Zabarmari Massacre: UN Backtracks, Says 110 Casualty Toll Not Comfirmed

The United Nations (UN) says its initial casualty figure of slain Borno farmers can’t be verified.

On Saturday, suspected Boko Haram members invaded Zabarmari community in Jere local government area of the state and killed farmers.

Babagana Zulum, governor of the state, had said over 40 residents were killed while they were working on their farmlands.

But the UN had released a statement, on Sunday, which quoted Edward Kallon, the UN resident and humanitarian coordinator in Nigeria, said at least 110 people” were killed in the attack.

The UN statement became a subject of public discourse as it was published by major newspapers in the country.

In a statement on Monday, the UN says it can’t authenticate the veracity of its earlier assertion.

Eve Sabbagh, UN’s head of public information in Nigeria, said the “110 casualty figure” was not reliably and probably sourced.

The world humanitarian body had also published another statement, where the figure has been substituted with “tens of civilians”, while other parts of the piece remains Unchanged.

“Please note the number of 110 civilians killed on Saturday’s attack is an unconfirmed number and the correct version of the statement by the Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator is the one published yesterday on Reliefweb and used on OCHA Nigeria’s Twitter account,” Sabbagh said.