UN retracts report on 110 persons killed in Borno

The United Nations (UN) has retracted its initial report on the number of persons killed in Borno state.

The UN had earlier reported that suspected Boko Haram men had attacked Zabarmari community in Jere local government area of the state and killed 110 farmers.

The governor of the state, Babagana Zulum had released a statement claiming that about 40 residents, were killed while they were working on their farmlands.

The UN statement had gone viral and was widely reported.

The UN has however come out to clarify its earlier position, saying the 110 figure it had earlier released was not yet confirmed.

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

The UN also issued another release, stating that  “tens of civilians” were killed in the attack.

Sabbagh said “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,”