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| President Goodluck Jonathan |
Having received
preliminary briefings from the Military High Command on the incident, President
Goodluck Jonathan has ordered a full-scale investigation into reports of high
civilian casualties in the confrontation between Nigerian soldiers and
insurgents at Baga in Borno State at the weekend.
While the
preliminary briefings indicate that the casualty figures being reported by the
foreign media may be grossly exaggerated, President Jonathan assures Nigerians
and the global community that the Federal Government of Nigeria places the
highest possible value on the lives of all citizens of the country and that his
administration will continue to do everything possible to avoid the killing or
injuring of innocent bystanders in security operations against terrorists and
insurgents.
Rules of
engagement for the military and security agencies are already in place for this
purpose and the investigation ordered by President Jonathan into the incident
in Baga is to amongst other things, determine whether or not these rules were
fully complied with.
The President
has also ordered the National Emergency Management Authority (NEMA) and Federal
health agencies to liaise with the Borno State Government and take urgent steps
to provide immediate relief and medical support for all who suffered losses and
injury in the fighting at Baga.
He commiserates
with all those who have regrettably lost their lives in the fighting, including
the soldiers who gallantly made the supreme sacrifice in the operation against
terrorism, insurgency and insecurity in Nigeria.
The President
is deeply pained by the continuance of these needless deaths and will continue
to do all within his powers to achieve lasting peace, security and stability in
all parts of the country.
It is his hope
and expectation that the National Committee which he will inaugurate on
Wednesday for dialogue and the peaceful resolution of security challenges in
the North will contribute significantly to ending the continuous loss of
lives to wasteful violence.
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