Zabarmari Massacre: UN Withdraws Claim 110 Died In Boko Haram Attack

In the new release, the United Nations says, “tens of
civilians were ruthlessly killed and many others were wounded in
this attack.”

The United Nations on Monday recanted an earlier claim that 110
farmers were killed by suspected Boko Haram insurgents in Zabarmari
community, Borno State.

Recall report on Saturday saying at least 43 farmers lost their
lives in an attack by insurgents on a rice field.

On Sunday, the Borno governor, Babagana Zulum, had during a mass
burial of the deceased farmers, told journalists that 43 farmers
were killed.

Later on Sunday evening, the UN issued a statement which quoted
the head of the UN System in Nigeria, Edward Kallon, saying that at
least 110 farmers were killed in the said attack.

The UN version of the death toll from Koshobe rice field went
viral.

In the initial UN statement, signed by Eve Sabbagh, UN’s Head of
Public Information at the OCHA in Nigeria, Mr Kallon said he was
“outraged and horrified by the gruesome attack against civilians
carried out by non-state armed groups in villages near Borno State
capital Maiduguri.”

He added that “at least 110 civilians were ruthlessly killed and
many others were wounded in this attack.”

Withdrawal
In a new release on Monday, the UN said its initial statement was
inaccurate.

The UN’s head, public information, said the earlier numbers
quoted by Mr Kallon were not correctly sourced.

In an email circulated to reporters, Ms Sabbagh asked
journalists to disregard the earlier statement.

“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:

In the fresh statement, the humanitarian agency replaced the
portion where it quoted “110 deaths” with “unspecified figure”.

This time around, Mr Kallon was quoted saying “tens of civilians
were ruthlessly killed and many others were wounded in this
attack.”

The remaining paragraphs of the one-paged statement remained the
same.

The UN did not, however, add how it got the earlier figure it
released and which was quoted by at least one international media
outlet.

Meanwhile, sources in Zabarmari had confirmed to newsmen that a
search party was still combing the bushes for other missing farmers
at the time our reporter visited the farm.

“The number of death remains the same,” he said. “We have not
had any other corpses other than the 43 we buried yesterday; even
though we know about 70 farmers were involved in the incident.”

In the new release, the United Nations says, “tens of
civilians were ruthlessly killed and many others were wounded in
this attack.”

The United Nations on Monday recanted an earlier claim that 110
farmers were killed by suspected Boko Haram insurgents in Zabarmari
community, Borno State.

Recall report on Saturday saying at least 43 farmers lost their
lives in an attack by insurgents on a rice field.

On Sunday, the Borno governor, Babagana Zulum, had during a mass
burial of the deceased farmers, told journalists that 43 farmers
were killed.

Later on Sunday evening, the UN issued a statement which quoted
the head of the UN System in Nigeria, Edward Kallon, saying that at
least 110 farmers were killed in the said attack.

The UN version of the death toll from Koshobe rice field went
viral.

In the initial UN statement, signed by Eve Sabbagh, UN’s Head of
Public Information at the OCHA in Nigeria, Mr Kallon said he was
“outraged and horrified by the gruesome attack against civilians
carried out by non-state armed groups in villages near Borno State
capital Maiduguri.”

He added that “at least 110 civilians were ruthlessly killed and
many others were wounded in this attack.”

Withdrawal
In a new release on Monday, the UN said its initial statement was
inaccurate.

The UN’s head, public information, said the earlier numbers
quoted by Mr Kallon were not correctly sourced.

In an email circulated to reporters, Ms Sabbagh asked
journalists to disregard the earlier statement.

“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:

In the fresh statement, the humanitarian agency replaced the
portion where it quoted “110 deaths” with “unspecified figure”.

This time around, Mr Kallon was quoted saying “tens of civilians
were ruthlessly killed and many others were wounded in this
attack.”

The remaining paragraphs of the one-paged statement remained the
same.

The UN did not, however, add how it got the earlier figure it
released and which was quoted by at least one international media
outlet.

Meanwhile, sources in Zabarmari had confirmed to newsmen that a
search party was still combing the bushes for other missing farmers
at the time our reporter visited the farm.

“The number of death remains the same,” he said. “We have not
had any other corpses other than the 43 we buried yesterday; even
though we know about 70 farmers were involved in the incident.”