How Baga was Massacred and the shocking images of Boko Haram attacks

Satellite images of the "catastrophic" attacks on two towns in Nigeria by Boko Haram militants have been released by Amnesty International.
The Satellite images revealed the shocking scale of destruction wreaked by Boko Haram militants during attacks last week, when scores of civilians were murdered.

Satellite image Doro Baga, before and after attacks. The red areas indicate healthy vegetation. Satellite image Doro Baga, before and after attacks. The red areas indicate healthy vegetation. (Amnesty International)

Before and after satellite images taken on 2 and 7 January show how the neighbouring towns of Baga and Doron Baga (also known as Doro Gowon) were razed to the ground. - see below

Human rights charity Amnesty International has reported that over 3,700 structures were damaged or completely destroyed during this period, and other nearby towns and villages were also attacked.

The number of lives claimed in the massacres in Baga and Doron Baga remains unclear. Initial reports suggested that 2,000 people were killed, but the Nigerian Government has since reduced the figure to 150, but the campaign group says the pictures, taken on 2 and 7 January, provide "indisputable and shocking evidence" of the scale of the assaults on Baga and neighbouring Doron Baga.

It believes hundreds of people were killed and that over 3,700 structures were either damaged or destroyed in the attacks.
Other nearby towns and villages in northeastern Borno state were also targeted by the Islamists between 3 and 7 January.

"These detailed images show devastation of catastrophic proportions in two towns, one of which was almost wiped off the map in the space of four days," said Daniel Eyre, Nigeria researcher for Amnesty.

"Of all Boko Haram assaults analysed by Amnesty International, this is the largest and most destructive yet. It represents a deliberate attack on civilians whose homes, clinics and schools are now burnt-out ruins."

Approximately 620 structures were damaged or destroyed by fire in Baga alone, a densely populated town less than two square kilometres in size.

In Doron Baga, which is also known as Doro Gowon and is around four square kilometres, over 3,100 structures were either damaged or burnt.

Many of the wooden fishing boats along the shoreline, visible in the images taken on the 2 January, are no longer present in the 7 January photos.
The reported scale of destruction tallies with witnesses' testimony that many terrified residents fled to safety in boats across Lake Chad.

A man in his fifties told Amnesty: "I saw maybe around 100 killed at that time in Baga. I ran to the bush. As we were running, they were shooting and killing."
Other witnesses described how Boko Haram drove into the bush rounding up women, children and the elderly.

A woman who was detained for four days said: "(They) took around 300 women and kept us in a school in Baga. They released the older women, mothers and most of the children after four days but are still keeping the younger women."
As Baga is isolated and Boko Haram militants are in control of the area, it is difficult to verify the facts surrounding the tragedy, he explained.

While Nigeria’s Director of Defence Information stated that the number of people killed in Baga - including Boko Haram fighters - did not exceed 150, the images and eye witness accounts suggest that the final death toll is likely to be much higher, he argued.

“Residents have not been able to return to bury the dead, let alone count their number. But through these satellite images combined with graphic testimonies a picture of what is likely to be Boko Haram’s deadliest attack ever is becoming clearer,” said Mr Eyre.

Boko Haram fighters have repeatedly targeted communities for their perceived collaboration with Nigeria's security forces.

Towns that formed state-sponsored militia groups known as the Civilian Joint Task Force (Civilian JTF) have suffered particularly brutal attacks.

Since 2009 Amnesty says thousands of people have been killed, hundreds abducted and hundreds of thousands forced to leave their homes by Boko Haram.

It is calling on Nigeria's security forces to do more to protect civilians and for the group's "war crimes and crimes against humanity" to be "duly investigated".