| Financial Times | - |
Nigerian
ground and air forces are battling to reclaim the remote north eastern
town of Baga after what Amnesty International believes was one of the
worst atrocities carried out by Boko Haram extremists during a five year
insurgency.
2015 Baga massacre
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
See also: 2013 Baga massacre
| 2015 Baga massacre | |
|---|---|
Baga
|
|
| Location | Baga, Borno State, Nigeria |
| Coordinates | 13°7′7.7″N 13°51′23.7″ECoordinates: 13°7′7.7″N 13°51′23.7″E |
| Date | 3–7 January 2015 |
| Target | Local residents, Nigerian Army base in town |
|
Attack type
|
Mass killing, spree killing, petrol bombing, others |
| Deaths | At least 100, over 2,000 "unaccounted for" |
| Perpetrators | Boko Haram |
Fatalities have been reported to be "heavy" but their extent is presently unclear; local officials and residents who have fled have been quoted as saying that "over 2,000" people are thought to have been killed or "unaccounted for", but others report "at least a hundred" fatalities.[1][2][3][4] Several government officials denied that the fatalities were as extensive as reported, with some even claiming that the massacre had never taken place or that the Nigerian military had repelled the militants from the region, a claim that was refuted by local officials, survivors, and the international media.[5][6][3]
Baga and at least 16 other towns are thought to have been destroyed as over 35,000 people are reported to have been displaced, with many feared to have drowned while trying to cross Lake Chad and others trapped on islands in the lake.[1][4] The attacks are said to have resulted in Boko Haram extending its control to over 70% of Borno State.[2]
Contents
Background
Main article: Islamist insurgency in Nigeria
Baga, in Borno State, was the location of a Nigerian Army base that was the headquarters of the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF), an international force comprised of soldiers from Nigeria, Niger and Chad that was formed in 1994 to deal with cross-border security issues and, more recently, combating the Boko Haram insurgency.[6][1]
For that reason, the town is believed to have been of strategic
importance to Boko Haram, as the last major town in Northern Borno State
under the control of the Nigerian government and a key military base for government and international forces.[1]Massacre and attacks
The attacks began on 3 January, when a large number of Boko Haram militants captured the town of Baga and overran the MNJTF headquarters and army base in town.[7]Attack on MNJTF headquarters
According to Senator Ahmed Zanna, who represents the district of Borno Central, government forces—despite being the joint headquarters only Nigerian Army forces were stationed there at the time—resisted the militants, who "attacked from all sides", for several hours, but eventually "joined civilians fleeing into the bush".[7][8] They reportedly seized a large number of weapons and vehicles, according to Zanna.In the days following the assault, the militants forced Baga's residents into the surrounding area villages.[3] On the evening of Tuesday, 6 January, two local residents reported that the militants began to burn local buildings using petrol bombs and explosives, and according to survivors proceeded to kill those left.[3][4] On 9 January, a resident described the extent of the damage by reporting, "There is not any single house that is standing there."[9] According to Musa Bukar, head of the Kukawa local government area, all 16 villages in the the LGA were razed as well, and their residents either killed or forced to flee.[1]
Extent of fatalities
The extent of the killings is as of yet unknown, and reports vary wildly. Over two thousand people were thought to have been killed, according to Bukar.[2] Zanna said that two thousand were "unaccounted for", but other sources said that "dozens" or "over a hundred" had been killed.[4][3] At least 100 were killed in the initial attack on 3 January, according to Baba Abba Hassan, the district head, later adding that "hundreds of corpses still lay on the streets" of the town and that many women and children were among the victims, having been pursued into the bush by the militants.[4][5]Hassan, however, denied that the attack on 7 January had ever occurred and that the figure of 2,000 deaths was "outrageous".[5] Several government sources allegedly rejected claims of such a high number of fatalities, suggesting that it was considerably lower.[10] However, the Nigerian government has downplayed the extent of, and frequently outright denied the existence of, Boko Haram attacks several times in the past, including a prior massacre in Baga in 2013 where both Boko Haram and the Nigerian military were implicated in the death of over 200 citizens.[11][12][13]
Aftermath and response
Government security officials quickly denied that any attack had taken place in Baga, and stated that "base troops had held their positions".[6] One pro-government newspaper, citing a local fisherman, went as far to claim that Boko Haram had instead been dealt a "heavy defeat" by the Nigerian military in Baga and that the town was firmly under government control.[6] Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh, the Chief of the Defence Staff, initially denied that the MNJTF headquarters had been captured but later admitted that it had.[14][15]One government spokesperson gave the atypically precise figure of 1,636 people as having been displaced as a result of the attack, and "brushed aside" claims that it had been more severe.[14] According to independent reports and local officials, however, least 35,000 people are thought to have fled the region.[2] "Bodies lay strewn on the streets", according to survivors, as the entire population of Baga is thought to have fled, some into Cameroon and Chad.[4][8] Approximately 20,000 sought shelter at camp near Maiduguri, the state capital, and another 10,000 in Monguno were waiting to be transported.[1][2] Bukar said that the town was now "virtually non-existent".[2] Local human rights activists said that they had been told by women who had escaped the town that their daughters, some as young as 10, had been kidnapped.[4]
Chadian Prime Minister Kalzeubet Pahimi Deubet said that at least 2,500 Nigerians and 500 Chadians had sought refuge in the neighbouring country following the attacks, some of whom were trying to cross Lake Chad in flimsy and overloaded canoes.[4][3] Many of those trying to cross the lake are feared to have drowned, while hundreds of others, over five hundred by one account, have been trapped on islands in the lake.[7][1] According to local officials who had communicated with the refugees via telephone, refugees were "dying from lack of food, cold and malaria" on one "mosquito-infested island."[4]
Maina Maaji Lawan, a former Governor of Borno state and the current Senator representing the district of Borno North, questioned why the soldiers had reportedly fled the base, saying "[t]here is definitely something wrong that makes our military abandon their posts each time there is an attack from Boko Haram".[8] This followed a spate of Nigerian troops, numbering in the hundreds, fleeing Boko Haram in battle.[8] According to Lawan, the attack meant that 70% of Borno State would now be under the control of Boko Haram.[2]
See also
References
- "Boko Haram destroys at least 16 villages in NE Nigeria: officials". Business Insider. Agence France-Presse. 8 January 2015. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
- "Boko Haram crisis: Nigeria's Baga town hit by new assault". BBC World News. British Broadcasting Corporation. 8 January 2015. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
- Smith, Alexander (8 January 2015). "Boko Haram Torches Nigerian Town of Baga; 2,000 Missing: Senator". NBC News. National Broadcasting Company. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
- "Boko Haram kills dozens in fresh raids in Nigerian town". Thomson Reuters. Reuters. 8 January 2015. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
- Olanrewaju, Timothy (9 January 2015). "One week after Boko Haram attack, corpses litter Baga". The Sun (Nigeria). Retrieved 9 January 2015.
- "Boko Haram suffers heavy defeat in surprise attack on military base". News Express. 5 January 2015. Retrieved 9 January 2015.
- Smith, Alexander (8 January 2015). "Boko Haram Militants in Nigeria Storm Key Base in Baga". NBC News (National Broadcasting Company). Retrieved 8 January 2015.
- Roggio, Bill (4 January 2015). "Boko Haram overruns Multinational Joint Task Force base". Long War Journal. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
- Hinshaw, Drew; Akingbule, Gbenga (9 January 2015). "Boko Haram Rampages, Slaughters in Northeast Nigeria". The Wall Street Journal (Dow Jones & Company). Retrieved 10 January 2015.
- Hayden, Sally (8 January 2015). "Gruesome Reports Emerge of New Boko Haram Massacre in Northern Nigeria". Vice News (Vice Media). Retrieved 9 January 2015.
However, an NGO researcher in Nigeria told VICE News that she had heard from various sources — including one inside the Ministry of Defence — that the number of new fatalities in Baga could be considerably lower, though she couldn't independently confirm those claims.
- "Boko
Haram seizes strategic Nigerian town :Boko Haram seizes strategic
Nigerian town Army denies takeover even as thousands of people are
reported fleeing northern Nigerian town amid Boko Haram attack.". Al Jazeera English (Al Jazeera). 2 September 2014. Retrieved 9 January 2015.
Boko Haram have seized a strategic town in Nigeria's far northeast, prompting denials from the military... [which] countered that it had pushed back the militants, who in recent weeks have moved from indiscriminate and retaliatory hit-and-run attacks to seizing strategic territory in Borno state.
- "Nigeria gov't denies new Boko Haram mass kidnap". CBS News (Columbia Broadcasting System). 24 June 2014. Retrieved 9 January 2015.
Witnesses say Islamic extremists have abducted 60 more girls and women and 31 boys from villages in northeast Nigeria. Security forces denied the kidnappings.
- Bello, Usman A. (17 September 2014). "Police Deny Boko Haram Attack in Kogi". Daily Trust. AllAfrica. Retrieved 9 January 2015.
The police in Kogi State yesterday refuted reports of an attack on a military vehicle by suspected Boko Haram members in the state.
- "Boko Haram displaces 1,636 in Baga". News Express. 7 January 2015. Retrieved 9 January 2015.
- Adigun, Bashir (6 January 2015). "Nigerian Defense Chief: Military Base in Hands of Extremists". ABC News. Associated Press. Retrieved 9 January 2015.
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