Nigeria: mass-burials seen after

Boko Haram attack

FRI DAY 09 MAY 2014
A local trader who survived Monday's Boo !ara" attac on a re"ote town in #i$eria
says he saw "ass %urials tain$ &lace strai$ht a'ter the $un'ire(
A 12-hour-long attack on Gamborou Ngala town in Borno state in the north
east of Nigeria left at least 300 dead on Monday after gunmen susected of
being Boko !aram terrorists oened fire in a market before attacking local
homes" #he militants were said to ha$e srayed gunfire into the crowds at a
busy market" #hey were then said to ha$e mo$ed into the town itself where
they set shos and homes abla%e and gunned down residents as they tried
to escae the flames"
Malam &olomi' who was seaking by telehone from Ngala' told (hannel )
News* +,e ha$e buried many eole in mass gra$es since after the attack"
,e buried 10 bodies in each gra$e"+
A Nigerian official from the Borno' who $isited the remote town on
#hursday' also told (hannel ) News olicemen and foreign traders were
among more than 300 killed"
#he official' Bakura Mustaha' who as the chairman of the Ngala local
go$ernment was disatched on a fact-finding mission by the state go$ernor'
said that the scene that confronted him was e$en worse than he had been
led to e-ect"
)e have %uried "any &eo&le in "ass $raves since a'ter the attac( )e
%uried ten %odies in each $rave(.yewitness
+#he death toll is o$er 300'+ Mr Mustaha said by hone from Borno /tate"
+0 ha$e 1ust returned from the scene of the attack" /i-teen olicemen are
among the dead""" as well as some (ameroonian traders who were in the
market at the time of the attack"+
,hile news from Ngala is now slowly trickling out' there is no news at all of
the more than 220 teenaged schoolgirls still missing' 22 days after being
kidnaed by Boko !aram"
Neither has there been any news from the negotiator with whom (hannel )
News had been in constant contact until three days ago" !e had been
hoing to secure the hando$er of 13 girls who Boko !aram had said
re4uired urgent medical attention"
Object 1
The abductors had told the intermediary that they were prepared to free the sick girls
as a prelude to possible further releases. There is also no news of any progress being
made by the two battalions which President Goodluck Jonathan says he has deployed
in search of the missing girls.
Many Nigerians remain uncon$inced by his rediction on #hursday at the
,orld .conomic 5orum meeting he is hosting in Abu1a that their kidnas
mark the beginning of the end for terror in Nigeria" 6n 5riday rotesters
gathered outside the Nigerian embassy in 7ondon to demand action"
'Failed to act'
6n 5riday Amnesty 0nternational reorted that it had obtained +damning+
e$idence from +credible sources+ that the Nigerian security forces had
failed to act on ad$ance warnings that the state-run boarding school was
about to be attacked by Boko !aram"
#he human rights grou claimed it had obtained testimonies which' it said
had been indeendently $erified' indicating that the security forces had
intelligence of the imminent raid' four hours in ad$ance of the attack' but
had failed to re$ent it"
*he 'act that #i$erian security 'orces new a%out Boo !ara"+s i"&endin$
raid will only a"&li'y the national and international outcry at this horri'ic
cri"e" Amnesty 0nternational
#he military head4uarters in Maiduguri' the Borno state caital' had
recei$ed information on the imending attack at 8m on 1) Aril" #he town
of (hibok' where the school was located' was attacked at around midnight"
Netsanet Belay' Amnesty 0nternational9s Africa :irector said* +#he fact that
Nigerian security forces knew about Boko !aram;s imending raid' but
failed to take the immediate action needed to sto it' will only amlify the
national and international outcry at this horrific crime"+
Object 2
The Nigerian military has been widely accused of very serious human abuse and
unlawful killings. There is also understood to be a big discrepancy between how much
money is allocated to fight the insurgents and how much is actually spent.
#here are many reorts that' as a result of this' soldiers in the $iolence-
afflicted north east are woefully undere4uied for taking on the rebel
fighters" #here is also understood to be dee reluctance among soldiers to
engage with hea$ily armed militants who are usually high on drugs when
they attack"
Read more: at least 300 killed in latest Boko Haram attack
#he </ /ecretary of /tate =ohn &erry says a </ inter-agency team is now
>hitting the ground? and will be +working in concert with Mr =onathan;s
go$ernment to do e$erything that we can ossibly can to return these girls
to their families and their communities"+
A British 5oreign @ (ommonwealth 6ffice statement on 5riday said a team
of <& e-erts was also in Abu1a and would be working closely with the
Americans"
+#he team'+ it said' +is drawn from across go$ernment' including :f0:' 5(6
and the Mo:' and will work with the Nigerian authorities leading on the
abductions and terrorism in Nigeria"
+#he team will be considering not 1ust the recent incidents but also longer-
term counter-terrorism solutions to re$ent such attacks in the future and
defeat Boko !aram" #he team will be working closely with their </
counterarts and others to coordinate efforts"+
Object 3
Article #ags

Boko !aram' (hannel ) News' =onathan
Miller' Nigeria' Aolitics' #errorism' <&