Searching roadsides, bushes and fields, environmental agency workers have recovered the bodies of 143 civilians killed by suspected extremists, an official said of one of the highest death tolls in an Islamic uprising in northeast Nigeria.
Two soldiers and three cops also were killed, according to a soldier who spoke to the media on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the Press during a visit on Thursday with Borno State Gov. Kashim Shettima, who was under heavy military protection.
The private said extremists disguised in military fatigues attacked in about 20 pickup trucks and two light tanks firing anti-aircraft guns that overwhelmed soldiers armed only with automatic rifles and rocket-propelled grenades. He indicated that the soldiers actually led the attackers to the village.
“We had to retreat to our base to reinforce after running out of ammunition. We had to run for our lives,” said the private, who said he hid in a millet plantation. “But they followed us down and surrounded our base and began to shell our building. We couldn’t stand the heat of their superior firepower. We had to retreat into the village after they killed two of our soldiers and three policemen.”
He said the attackers finally retreated in triumph, taking off with an additional four military patrol trucks and two light armored tanks.
Such accounts challenge the Nigerian military’s insistence that it is winning the war since a state of emergency was declared May 14 to put down the insurrection by extremists who want to enforce strict Shariah law throughout Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation of more than 160 million people almost equally divided between Muslims and Christians.