Reports of the killing of 15 Christians yesterday in an outskirt of Chibok Local Government Council of Borno State, North-East Nigeria, have been rubbished by the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), to which the reports were attributed.

News Express did not publish the unsubstantiated reports, which claimed that the church goers were slaughtered like rams, with their throats slit.

Responding to the reports this afternoon, Yushau A. Shuaib, Head, Public Relations of NEMA, denied that any such killings took place. Shuaib said in a statement:

“The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has denied a report claiming that 15 worshippers were killed in an outskirt of Chibok Local government Council of Borno State on Sunday.

“Though some of the reports claimed a source from NEMA provided the information, the agency not only contacted the same officer who denied it in its entirety, it also assigned a special team to investigate and verify the allegation which was later found to be unsubstantiated and untrue.

“Meanwhile the team has also discovered that two people were killed by unidentified gunmen around the area on Sunday and whose bodies had been deposited in a hospital. The victims were a security man and a bystander.

“Like other similar attacks, the agency could not classify the victims as Muslims or Christians because most of the attacks in that North-East axis are nondiscriminatory between religion, tribe or section of the victims. This could be deduced from the caliber of personalities including retired military generals, traditional rulers, politicians, public officers, businesspeople, security personnel, traders, students among other that were victims of such attacks.

“It is necessary to point out that NEMA would never release figures of casualty in whatever form without concrete evidence and certification from relevant authorities including the medical personnel and security agencies.

“The tradition of collaboration with stakeholder in information management during outbreaks of disaster in any part of the country is to eradicate erroneous impressions and misinformation as well as guard against unnecessary reprisal attacks from such speculations.”

•Photo: NEMA Director General, Alhaji Sani Sidi.

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