Senator Ali Ndume, the chairman of the Senate committee, on Army, has said the number of soldiers Nigeria has lost since 2013, is 847, according to record by the cemetery.
He stated this while he was briefing newsmen in Abuja, saying the records were for only those in Maiduguri cemetery, that there were still some buried in Abuja, and other places across the country, this was according to findings by his colleagues who had returned from Maiduguri.
“From the record, we saw in the cemetery, by their record, I think we lost over 847 soldiers from 2013 to date that is their record.
“And they have other cemeteries elsewhere in Abuja and other places where they bury their victims”.
He debunked the allegations that mass burial was conducted in Maiduguri for the soldiers, adding that the army will never do that.
“The allegation that there is a mass burial; when I saw it there, it is not true.
“Nigerian Army will never do that; In fact, if any of them is missing, they go out to search, to get that person to declare whether he is dead or alive; even if he is dead, they try to retrieve the body”, Ndume said.
Senator Ali Ndume said that there was going to be investigation on rumours that NGO’s in the area were providing useful information to the Boko Haram insurgents.
In his words, he added that “Another area of concern which the senate will look into is this allegation that the various NGOs in that area are conniving with the insurgents, providing them with information, logistics, and so many things.
“Well, I have been critical about this from the beginning, but it has come out now that a few of them operating there are actually aiding, abating and supporting the insurgents.
“But, we will do an investigation and you will hear if we have the evidence. So far, we have evidence, we just want to make it credible”.
