Chief of Army Staff Major-General Ihejirika
The trend of terrorism in the West African country Nigeria soared higher as new skirmishes results in constant death toll.
The recent 20 people killed by the Joint Task Force (JTF) at the weekend in Maiduguri were civilians and not members of Boko Haram, the sect has declared.
Field Operations Officer of the JTF, Lt. Col. Victor Ebhaleme, said on Sunday that one soldier was killed as 20 members of Boko Haram sect were killed in a gun battle on Saturday night.
“We got intelligence report that some suspected Boko Haram terrorists were holding a meeting at a particular location in the metropolis. As we approached the venue, the terrorists opened fire on the JTF. Our men responded, which led to the killing of 20 of the terrorists. We lost one soldier and two others sustained injury,” Col. Ebhaleme said.
But, spokesman of Boko Haram, Abu Qaqa told reporters that those killed were not their members.
Qaqa told a teleconference with reporters in Maiduguri, the Borno state capital, and the sect’s heartland, that his fighters had not been meeting at the place where the military said it killed them.
“They only succeeded in killing civilians,” Qaqa said. “Twenty of us cannot risk sitting in a volatile place to hold a meeting ... It is not possible.”
The Islamist have killed hundreds in gun and bomb attacks since they launched an uprising in 2009.
Many important figures in the sect have been killed or arrested in a military crackdown that appears to have weakened it since the beginning of the year.
But many civilians have also died or been beaten and harassed in the crackdown, fueling resentment that helps generate support for the movement.
The United States is urging Nigeria not to use excessive or indiscriminate force in the north, an aide of U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton last week said.
The death of Boko Haram’s leader in police custody in 2009 was seen as the event that transformed it from a rebellious clerical movement into a dangerous militant group.
News Source The Nation Aug 14, 2012 at 9:55 AM WAT
