More than 150 people died – Amnesty International

Human rights organization, Amnesty International has said that more than 150 people lost their lives in the recent Boko Haram attack in Baga, Borno State.

This is in response to a statement made by the Director of Defence Information, Chris Olukoladewho said that the current casualty figure of the attack is 150 and not 2,000 as widely reported.

Amnesty International on Wednesday, January 14, released satellite images of the attacks and stated that the picture evidence clearly contradicts the figure given by Olukolade.

The organization added further that the images combined with eyewitness accounts suggest that “the final death toll could be much higher than this figure [150].”

“These detailed images show the devastation of catastrophic proportions in the two towns, one of which was almost wiped off the map in the space of four days,” Daniel Eyre, a researcher for Amnesty International in Nigeria said.

“Of all Boko Haram assaults analysed by Amnesty International, this is the largest and most destructive yet. It represents a deliberate attack on civilians whose homes, clinics and schools are now burnt out and ruined,” he added.

Survivors of the attack stated that there were corpses everywhere and AI said the destruction shown in the images confirmed the horrific testimonies that the organisation had gathered.

The organization also urged the Nigerian Government to take all possible legal steps to restore security in the North-East and ensure adequate protection of civilians.