Boko Haram: JTF Killed Innocent People And Not Our Members

Following claims by the Joint Task Force in Maiduguri that it killed 20 members of the Jama’atu Allus Sunnah Lilda wati Wal Jihad, aka Boko Haram at the weekend, the group said today those killed were innocent people, not its members.


Through its spokesperson, Abul Qaqa, Boko Haram described the JTF claim as a ruse and serial lies, and insisted that the combined squad, which comprises soldiers as well as secret police and conventional police killed innocent people.

Qaqa, who spoke in Hausa, said, “The JTF only brutally killed innocent poor people. There is no way our sect members up to 20 will gather in such environment and hold a council sitting. It is a lie and blatant lie. We are committed and have vowed until a Muslim State is formed in Nigeria and not going back on this.”

Col. Victor Ebhaleme, the Field Operations Officer of JTF in Borno State, told newsmen yesterday that the Saturday night shootout followed an intelligence report that some suspected Boko Haram terrorists were having a meeting at a certain location in the metropolis.

He did not say how the tip was confirmed, but stated that when the JTF approached the area, the terrorists “immediately opened fire on the team.

Twenty of the suspects and one soldier were reportedly killed.