The Bring Back Our Girls (BBOG)
movement has asked the federal government to stop the “secret burial” of
soldiers killed in the war against Boko Haram.
In a statement on Tuesday, Oby
Ezekwesili, Aisha Yesufu and Florence Ozor, conveners of the movement, said
several months after the federal government claimed to have defeated Boko
Haram, Nigerians still see pictures of mass burials of the soldiers killed by
Boko Haram
The group was reacting to
pictures of mass burial of soldiers allegedly killed in an ambush attack by the
sect in Bama local government area on July 16. But Nigerian army denied reports
that some soldiers got missing in the ambush.
“Were Nigerians not told that the
military has won the war? What then is the reason for the escalation of attacks
by the terrorists and the heightened loss of life of citizens and our
soldiers?” the statement read
“The #BringBackOurGirls advocacy
has been consistent in voicing the correlation between the wellbeing of our
troops, the rescue of our #ChibokGirls and the end of the insurgency.
”It is therefore disheartening
that several months after the federal government’s announcement that Boko Haram
has been technically defeated, we see pictures of a mass burial for our troops,
killed by Boko Haram.”
BBOG group asked the military
authorities to confirm the number of soldiers killed by Boko Haram in July.
“The military authority should
immediately confirm the number of our soldiers that have died within this month
of July 2018. Their families and Nigerians should have a brief on the
circumstances of their deaths as a means to healing, to have closure. Their
names should be released for proper honour as obtains in other climes,” the
statement read.
”We take exception to what is to
all intent, a secret burial of our fallen heroes. Those responsible for the
safety of our troops should be sanctioned for this failure and measures must be
put in place to prevent further deaths and damage to the morale of our troops.
We question why the current status of our defence budget is at variance with
the safety and wellbeing of our troops in this fight against Boko Haram.
”We still stand on the demand we
have made previously, for the federal government to institute a monthly
counter-terrorism status report to the Nigerian public.”
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