Bama town exhumes, reburies remains of Boko Haram victims 14 months after

ABDULLAHI ISAHI, Maiduguri

The remains of 81 victims of the Boko Haram attack on Bama town, in Bama Local Government Area of Borno State were, Wednesday, exhumed from a nearby river bank and buried according to Islamic rites, 14 months after.

They were among those killed and hurriedly dumped by Boko Haram terrorists at the River Yadzeram in Bama town of Borno during the captured of the town back in September 2014.

Chairman of the council area, Alhaji Ali Gujja confirmed that the victims who were ‘killed and dumped’ into the Yadzeram River at Bama bridge by insurgents, were exhumed and buried at a cemetery according to Islamic rites.

The interment was organized by the local council in Bama town.

A military source from Bama said the remains were exhumed from along the river bank by volunteers and some members of the Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF).

Speaking to newsmen, Thursday at Bama on the ceremonial and religious rites of burying of remains of the Boko Haram victims, Gujja said that the victims ‘deserved befitting burial rites.’

“We had no option than to exhume their remains that have been floating on the river, while others lying on the river banks for over a year. We had to look for volunteers and members of the CJTF to swing into action last week and exhumed 81 remains of the victims, and whatever else we could find like skeletons, skulls and bones,” said

According to Gujja, his team also discovered several corpses inside two brick wells across the Bama town used by the insurgents, as ‘a dumping ground,’ stressing that the affected wells will now have to be sealed off and fumigated to prevent any outbreak of diseases in the town.

“The camp is currently having over 6, 000 displaced people, comprising 560 women with 2,140 children under the age of five and 1,140 below the age of one,” Gujja said.

“Feeding of these displaced persons is being handled by the Borno State Emergency Management Agency (BOSEMA), while the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) takes care of their basic health care needs and today the Victims Support Fund (VSF) has supported this camp with two grinding machines, drugs and recreational facilities for women and children in camp,” he said.