A lawyer and public affairs analyst, Ima Nsa-Adegoke, has said that the Nigerian Government does not place value in the lives of the citizens of the country.
Speaking as a guest on Channels Television’s breakfast programme, Sunrise Daily, Mrs Nsa-Adegoke said any government that values the lives of its citizen who rather secure it that argue about the number of casualties in an attack.
There has been conflicting reports as to the number of casualties in the clash between operatives of the Multinational Joint Task Force (MJTF) and suspected members of the Boko Haram sect in Baga community of Borno State. While a Senator from the area said 228 persons were killed, the residents reported gave the casualty figure as 185. The military authority however gave the casualty figure as 25.
For Mrs Nsa-Adegoke, the argument shouldn’t be about the casualty figure because according to her “When military persons go into a built-up area to take out combat, there is always going to be collateral damage.
“Even if it was one person that died who wasn’t a part of the conflict it is bad enough even though as a nation we don’t seem to put a premium on lives because if we did put a premium on lives, Youth Corpers who died in the line of duty shouldn’t be given N5 million.”
She said the panel that the Federal government had set up to examine the details of the Baga carnage should be a judicial one that will ensure that justice is served.
