Baga
Baga is located in Nigeria
Baga
Baga
Location in Nigeria
Coordinates: 13°7′7.7″N 13°51′23.7″E / 13.118806°N 13.856583°E / 13.118806; 13.856583
Country Nigeria
StateBorno

Baga is a town in the northeastern Nigerian state of Borno, close to Lake Chad, and lying northeast of the town of Kukawa. It is located within the Kukawa Local Government Area.

The town is approximately 196 km from Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State.[1] The "Doron Baga" fish market, as of 2000, was located about six kilometres from the town.[1] Baga used to lie on the border of Lake Chad and was a fishing center itself in the 1960s and 1970s, but the diminishing size of the lake has caused fishermen to move, and others have turned to subsistence farming.[2][3][4]

The town and the nearby naval base have been under the control by the Islamic State's West Africa Province since December 2018.[5]

Baga massacres

Baga appears on a peninsula jutting into Lake Chad on this 1973 map.

2013 Baga massacre

In April 2013, over 185 people were killed and over 2000 homes in Baga were destroyed as a result of fighting between the Nigerian military and the Boko Haram Islamist group; it is debatable which group was actually responsible.[6]

2015 Baga massacre

In January 2015, Boko Haram attacked the town, seizing it and the military base used by a multinational force set up to fight them. The town was burned and the people massacred — with some estimates claiming at least 2000 deaths[7] — the largest such massacre in Boko Haram's history.[8] Some residents escaped to nearby Chad by swimming across Lake Chad,[9] though some died in the attempt.

According to the Nigerian Ministry of Defence, no more than 150 people in total had been killed, including militants.[10][11][12][13] Several government officials denied that the fatalities were as extensive as reported, with some even claiming that the massacre had never taken place or that the Nigerian military had repelled the militants from the region, a claim that was refuted by local officials, survivors, and the international media.[12][14][15]

Lake Chad as viewed from Baga

Satellite imagery taken on 2 and 7 January was released by Amnesty International showing that in Baga, which is "less than two square kilometres in size, approximately 620 structures were damaged or completely destroyed by fire." In Doron Baga (or Doro Gowon), located about 2.5 km away, fishing boats present on the 2nd were no longer visible, and "more than 3,100 structures were damaged or destroyed by fire affecting most of the 4 square kilometre town."[16]

2018

On 27 December, Boko Haram attacked a military base in the town of Baga, killing 10 people. Most reports agree that the town is now under the control of the terrorist organisation.[17][18]

References

  1. 1 2 Mukhtar, Yakubu and Waziri A. Gazali. The Dynamics of Fish Trade in North-East Nigeria: A Case Study of Doron Baga, Berichte des Sonderforschungsbereichs 268, Band 14, Frankfurt a.M. 2000: 83-91
  2. ↑ Idris, Hamza et al. (30 June 2012)Nigeria: Northern Communities Losing Territory to Desert, Daily Trust (AllAfrica.com)
  3. ↑ Bomford, Andrew (14 April 2006). Slow death of Africa's Lake Chad, BBC News ("Just 30 years ago, water covered the whole area. Baga was a waterfront town. Now it is stranded many miles from the lake as the land around it becomes desert.")
  4. ↑ Murray, Senan (15 January 2007). Lake Chad fisherman pack up their nets, BBC News
  5. ↑ "Dozens killed in Nigeria fighting between army, jihadists: Sources".
  6. ↑ "Nigeria fighting 'kills scores' in Baga". BBC News. 22 April 2013. Retrieved 2015-01-10.
  7. ↑ "Boko Haram massacre thousands, says Amnesty International". Sydney Morning Herald. 10 January 2015. Retrieved 11 January 2015.
  8. ↑ "Nigeria: Massacre possibly deadliest in Boko Haram's history". Amnesty International. 9 January 2015. Retrieved 11 January 2015.
  9. ↑ "Boko Haram seizes army base in Nigeria town of Baga". BBC News. 4 January 2015.
  10. ↑ "Boko Haram destroys at least 16 villages in NE Nigeria: officials". Business Insider. Agence France-Presse. 8 January 2015. Archived from the original on 1 April 2018. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
  11. ↑ "Boko Haram crisis: Nigeria's Baga town hit by new assault". BBC World News. British Broadcasting Corporation. 8 January 2015. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
  12. 1 2 Smith, Alexander (8 January 2015). "Boko Haram Torches Nigerian Town of Baga; 2,000 Missing: Senator". NBC News. National Broadcasting Company. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
  13. ↑ "Boko Haram kills dozens in fresh raids in Nigerian town". Reuters. Thomson Reuters. 8 January 2015. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
  14. ↑ Olanrewaju, Timothy (9 January 2015). "One week after Boko Haram attack, corpses litter Baga". The Sun (Nigeria). Archived from the original on 10 January 2015. Retrieved 9 January 2015.
  15. ↑ "Boko Haram suffers heavy defeat in surprise attack on military base". News Express. 5 January 2015. Archived from the original on 7 August 2017. Retrieved 9 January 2015.
  16. ↑ Amnesty International. Nigeria: Satellite Images Show Horrific Scale of Boko Haram Attack On Baga. allAfrica.com, January 15, 2015
  17. ↑ "Islamists kill at least 10 in bid to capture northeast Nigerian lake town: residents". Reuters. Retrieved 2018-12-28.
  18. ↑ "Boko Haram Terrorists attack Nigerian Military base, seize weapons cache in Baga". www.thenigerianvoice.com. Retrieved 2018-12-28.
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