Yusuf Bello| Senator Ali Ndume, the chairman Senate committee on Army on Tuesday said the country lost over 847 soldiers fighting in the North East to Boko Haram from 2013 to date.
The Senator representing Bornu North also debunked allegations that the army conducts mass burial for soldiers killed by the Boko Haram insurgents, stressing that the military ensures the bodies of victims are retrieved.
The ranking Senator made the disclosure while briefing journalists in Abuja on the findings by members of his committee who recently returned from Maiduguri.
Ndume said, “From the record, we saw in the cemetery, by their record, I think we lost over 847 soldiers from 2013 to date that is their record.
“And they have other cemeteries elsewhere in Abuja and other places where they bury their victims.”
“The allegation that there is a mass burial; when I saw it there, it is not true.
“Nigerian Army will never do that; In fact, if any of them is missing, they go out to search, to get that person to declare whether he is dead or alive; even if he is dead, they try to retrieve the body.”
The Senator also revealed that a panel has started investigating allegations that some Non-Governmental Organisations operating in the North-East, were aiding the Boko Haram insurgency.
He continued, “Another area of concern which the senate will look into is this allegation that the various NGOs in that area are conniving with the insurgents, providing them with information, logistics, and so many things.
“Well, I have been critical about this from the beginning, but it has come out now that a few of them operating there are actually aiding, abating and supporting the insurgents.
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