Nigerian Defence Ministry claims only 150 deaths occured in Baga

The Nigerian Military has finally come out to speak on the massacre at Baga last week. It had been reported that about 2,000 killings had occurred and Amnesty International had described this attack as possibly Boko Haram’s deadliest attack ever.

The Defence Ministry also claims that a large amount of the 150 dead happen to be members of the Boko Haram sect. who were met with resistance. It has been suggested however that there is a gross underestimation of casualty figures by the authorities so as to downplay the significance of the Boko Haram threat.

The ministry dismissed higher estimates for deaths at Baga, as “speculation and conjecture” and “exaggerated”.

They also said the army was taking “necessary actions” to restore law and order there, but did not go into details on how they plan on recovering the captured town of Baga.

Futhermore, a French-led initiative has called for Nigeria, Niger, Cameroon and Chad to contribute 700 troops each to a multinational force against Boko Haram, but the plan is yet to be implemented.