The UN has retracted its claim of 110 deaths in the killing of farmers by Boko Haram operatives last week Saturday in Borno State. The body’s head of public information in Nigeria, Eve Sabbagh stated that the “110 casualty figure” was not rightly sourced.
Nigerians and the rest of the world were once again shocked by the horrific killing of farmers in Zabarmari community in the northeastern state. Official sources place the number of deaths at 43.
The governor of Borno State, Babagana Zulum was present at the burial ceremony on Sunday, where all the bodies recovered where wrapped in sheets ahead of their laying to rest.
The UN in a statement issued one day after the carnage reported that “at least 110 people” were killed while working on their farmlands.
The UN report sparked controversy as its figure was in conflict with that reported by the military and federal government.
However, the body on Monday stated that the figure was not yet confirmed
The UN had also released a fresh statement, replacing the figure with “tens of civilians”, while other parts of the piece was unchanged
The statemen t reads, “Please note the number of 110 civilians killed on Saturday’s attack is an unconfirmed number and the correct version of the statement by the Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator is the one published yesterday on Reliefweb and used on OCHA Nigeria’s Twitter account,” Sabbagh said.
