Boko Haram killed 'at least 60' in NE Nigeria: Amnesty
Lagos, Feb 2: Boko Haram killed at least 60 civilians in an attack on the remote town of Rann in northeast Nigeria earlier this week, Amnesty International said on Friday.
The human rights group's Nigeria director Osai Ojigho said "at least 60 people" were killed while satellite imagery showed "mass burning" of structures used by displaced people.
"Eleven bodies were found within Rann town, and 49 were found outside," the group said in an e-mailed statement, adding that some 50 people were still missing.
It quoted one of 10 civilian militia members who travelled to Rann to bury the dead as saying the bodies found outside the town all had gunshot wounds.
"This attack on civilians who have already been displaced by the bloody conflict may amount to possible war crime, and those responsible must be brought to justice," said Ojigho.
The death toll made it the "deadliest" by Boko Haram on Rann, she added.
In January 2017, a botched Nigerian air strike intended to hit jihadists killed at least 112 people as aid workers distributed food.
Rann, which is some 175 kilometres (110 miles) northeast of the Borno state capital, Maiduguri, has now been hit four times since March last year.
The first attack killed three aid workers and saw three others kidnapped. Two of the three were later executed. The second attack happened in early December.
On January 14, fighters loyal to the Boko Haram faction led by Abubakar Shekau attacked a military position.
Some 9,000 people fled across the border into Cameroon but were sent back, as troops from Nigeria's eastern neighbour were deployed to Rann as reinforcements.
Cameroonian forces were withdrawn last Sunday, which the UN said forced more than 30,000 people to flee in fear of another attack.
AFP has been told the remaining Nigerian soldiers also withdrew because there were not enough of them to fight off Boko Haram if they came in greater numbers.
Amnesty's Ojigho said "environmental sensors detected fires" in and around Rann on Monday and Tuesday, indicating the jihadists returned after the troops pulled out.
Analysis of satellite images indicated the two attacks had left most of the town "heavily damaged or destroyed", and "well over 100" structures had been burned down.
Many of the structures destroyed date back to 2017, indicating they had been constructed for those who had fled to Rann in search of refuge from the fighting.
Rann had been home to some 35,000 internally displaced people (IDPs), according to the International Organization for Migration.
Amnesty International said it wanted Nigeria to investigate the withdrawal of troops, as it "may have left tens of thousands of civilians exposed" to attack.
On Wednesday, the Norwegian Refugee Council called on Cameroon to keep open its borders to those fleeing Boko Haram attacks.
More than 27,000 people have been killed in nearly 10 years of fighting, while some 1.8 million others remain homeless and reliant on aid for food, shelter, healthcare and water.
The UN this week said it needed USD 848 million (741 million euros) to fund projects for affected civilians in Borno state and two other northeast states over the next three years.
An additional USD 135 million was required to help the 228,500 Nigerian refugees who have fled to neighbouring Cameroon, Chad and Niger, it added.
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BJP stages walkout in Karnataka assembly over 'non-disbursal' of Gruha Lakshmi payout
Belagavi (Karnataka) (PTI): The opposition BJP on Wednesday staged a walkout from the Karnataka assembly protesting the alleged "non-disbursal" of two months' installments to 1.26 crore beneficiaries under a woman's assistance scheme of the state government.
The protest followed a heated debate in which the opposition accused the state government of providing "misleading" information regarding the payment status of the flagship Gruha Lakshmi scheme.
The saffron party members trooped into the well of the House and raised slogans, leading to the adjournment of the proceedings of the House for over an hour.
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The Gruha Lakshmi guarantee scheme is one of the five pre-poll promises of the ruling Congress. It provides Rs 2,000 monthly to women heads of the Below Poverty Line (BPL) families.
The BJP legislators accused Woman and Child Welfare Minister Laxmi Hebbalkar of having "misled" the House by giving false information to BJP MLA Mahesh Tenginkai that all the instalments till August have been paid under the scheme.
The opposition charged that the installments for the months of February and March this year were not paid.
The BJP MLAs' grouse was that they had been demanding an explanation from the Minister for the past three days, but she never turned up to provide information.
As soon as the session started, the opposition members trooped into the well of the House demanding the Minister's presence, which led to the adjournment.
When the members assembled again, the Minister replied that this is a unique flagship programme of the Congress government, which is a model for all the states.
Hebbalkar said she always strived to ensure that this scheme is implemented religiously.
"However, when I checked, I noticed that two months' installments were not paid to the beneficiaries through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT). If my reply has hurt anyone, then I express my regret," she said.
Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, who came to the defence of Hebbalkar, said the BJP should apologise for the lie in the Union Budget.
"Despite the Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announcing Rs 5,300 crore for the Upper Bhadra Irrigation Project in the budget, the money was not given to Karnataka. You should question that as well," Shivakumar underlined.
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To this, Leader of Opposition in the assembly R Ashoka said the matter was raised because not only were the BJP members hurt but also the 1.26 crore beneficiaries who were eagerly waiting for the money.
Demanding that the lie be expunged from the House records, he insisted on a date for when the backlog will be paid to the beneficiaries.
The Minister said she was apologising for giving a wrong reply, but she was peeved at the way a woman was targeted in the House.
Objecting to this statement, BJP MLA S Suresh Kumar asked her to refrain from playing victim card and bring up the issue of gender, caste and religious discrimination as it was a matter related to 1.26 crore people.
Ashoka and the BJP MLAs then staged a walkout, saying the Minister's reply was not satisfactory.
