MUST WATCH VIDEO: Visit To Boko Haram Camps and Zones Leaves Unanswered Questions
In the three and a half weeks since Nigerian President
Goodluck Jonathan declared a state of emergency in three northeastern
states, thousands of troops have been deployed and the military says it
has cleared out several camps belonging to the militant group Boko
Haram.
For
the first time since all this began, journalists were allowed to visit
the battle zone this week, including Heather Murdock who filed this
story for VOA.
We enter the military plane from a
ramp in the back and once on board, we write our names on the
handwritten manifest, hoping this trip to northern Nigeria will answer a
lot of questions.
Are Boko Haram insurgents still strong in
northern Nigeria? Are there as few military casualties as they say?
Have civilians been killed?
Have civilians been killed?
At an impromptu press
conference, Brigadier General Chris Olukolade says definitively that
civilians have not been killed, despite accusations from international
organizations that Nigerian security forces are prone to shoot before
arresting, and to make arrests without charges or trials.
“Anyone
that was killed in a camp cannot call themselves a civilian. Most of
the camps are populated definitely by terrorists and they’re the objects
of this operation.”
