Our earlier figure of 110 victims in Borno attack not correctly sourced – UN

The United Nations on Monday withdrew its earlier claim that 110 farmers were killed by suspected Boko Haram insurgents in Zabarmari community of Borno State.

In a statement on Sunday evening, the head of the UN System in Nigeria, Edward Kallon, claimed that least 110 farmers were killed by the jihadists.

Kallon added that he was “outraged and horrified by the gruesome attack against civilians by by non-state armed groups in villages near the Borno State capital.”

According to him, at least 110 civilians were ruthlessly killed and many others wounded in the attack.

But the state governor, Babagana Zulum, told journalists during the victims’ burial also on Sunday that 43 persons were killed in the attack.

READ ALSO: UN says 110 killed by Boko Haram in Borno villages

However, in a fresh statement issued on Monday night by its Head of Public Information in Nigeria, Eve Sabbagh, the UN said its initial statement on the incident was inaccurate.

The body added that the earlier figures quoted by Kallon were not correctly sourced and 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,” it added.

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