No fewer than 847 soldiers of the Nigerian Army have lost their lives in the fight against the Boko Haram insurgency within the last six years, Chairman, Senate Committee on the Army, Ali Ndume ( APC Borno South) has said.
Ndume, who spoke with reporters after contributing at Senate plenary to the debate on the general principle of 2020 budget proposal, said the casualty figure was sourced from military authorities last week.
He declared: “The casualty figure of 847 was gotten from the Army last Thursday when the National Assembly joint committee on Army visited the war theatre in Borno state.
“The Boko Haram insurgents don’t only attack civilians but the military as well. So far, from the record we saw in the cemetery, I think we lost over 847 soldiers – by their record there and that is from 2013 till date”, he said.
He explained that there was no iota of truth in the allegation that military authorities organised mass burial for soldiers lost to insurgency in the North-east, saying the Nigerian Army will never do that.
Ndume added that, “in fact if any of the soldiers is missing, they go out to search and get the person before declaring whether or not he is dead and even if he is dead, they make attempts to retrieve the body and inform his family before carrying out the necessary burial rites”.
