A survivor amongst the victims of the recent attack which cost about 43 rice farmers lives in Zabarmari village in Borno, claimed they gave information to the Military on the impending attack but no action was taken. About 43 confirmed rice farmers were slaughtered on Saturday while harvesting their crop in Zabarmari, a suburb at the outskirt of Maiduguri town, Borno state, though the numbers of victims were under contention as the United Nation claimed it was 110 persons.
In a report, Daily Trust quoted one, Abubakar Salihu, one of the survivors who disclosed that they saw the attack coming when they caught one Boko Haram in their area, but after informing the military, nothing was done about it.
In his statement, “We informed the Military beforehand that our members sighted Boko Haram in large number, but nothing was done about it, Salihu said.
“It was a sad day for us in Zabarmari; it could have been averted but the military failed to act on the information we provided’.
However, when, John Eneche, the Army Headquarter spokesperson, was asked why the military failed to foil the attack, he blamed the locals for being reluctant in providing the soldiers with the information required.
Eneche stated this while speaking today at the Sunrise Daily, a Channel TV program. He said, “That has been our worry. It’s a concern for us. For instance, you need a guide, you need information. Will they tell us? That’s a question that we have to ask. Yes, sometimes. And most times, no,” he said.
“And that was one of the issues we have been ensuring to overcome, with civil-military cooperation activities, reaching out to them, even sending people by proxy to talk to them.
“Those are the things that have been one of the banes of the final success in the whole of this operation.
According to him, they are pleased by the recent move from the stakeholders, and soon it will be all history.
