Adamawa State governor Murtala Nyako has said that there is need for the federal government and military authorities to expose the source of weapons being used by the members of the Boko Haram on the grounds that there is ulterior motives behind the insurgency attacks in the north-east.
Nyako further criticized the federal government for failing to foil an attack on a secondary school in Yobe even though other schools in the state had been attacked previously, leading to the death of many students.
The governor, who was reacting to the latest attacks on two LGAs of the state, said that the rate of insurgent attacks in the state was getting out of hand. He called on the federal government to resolve the situation without further delay, adding that the emergency rule clamped on the state had been totally defeated.
He said that the incessant Boko Haram attacks on innocent civilians has ridiculed President Goodluck Jonathan’s claim of success against the insurgency.
‘’Enough Is Enough,’’ Governor Nyako said, stressing that the Boko Haram crisis is getting out of hand and needs new measures to tackle.
Nyako, who was visibly disturbed by what he called the insincerity of the federal government in its fight against the insurgency, said: “There is no excuse whatsoever. We want to know more from the authorities.
“By now, the authorities should be able to know what is happening. We should be able to know where these arms are manufactured and even the signatures of the weapons. We ought to know who ordered them, who paid for them, how they came into the country. Where were they shipped? Which port in Nigeria did they arrive, who cleared them?
To buttress his point further, Nyako said it still beats his imagination that security checkpoints and roadblocks are manning every nook and cranny of the nation, conducting stop-and-search and wondered how weapons are being transported across the nation.
He stated: ‘’President, vice president, governors and the military are the only groups that pass checkpoints without being checked, and which of the two groups is conveying those arms to the scene of these actions we want to know.
‘’The other aspect is that the army withdrew from the checkpoint before the attack on Yadi-Buni. Who ordered the withdrawal? We also have a case where General Shuwa was killed by so-called Boko Haram. There were army units there but they didn’t respond during the incident. Who told them not to respond when Shuwa was being attacked?
‘’The Air Force base was being raided; there was a unit of army nearby; who gave them order not to respond until all the aircraft were destroyed?
‘’These are questions that need answers. So, either this thing is controlled by unknown fellows or unknown Boko Haram strategic commanders in the defence system, or stage-managed. We have reached a point to come out and tell them our displeasure over the way the situation is escalating.’’
33 killed In Fresh Attack On Adamawa
Madagli and Michika local government areas of Adamawa State yesterday came under fresh attack leading to the death of about 33 people.
Insurgent attacks have escalated within the borders of Adamawa and Borno, resulting in the sacking of over 20 border villages.
The unknown gunmen first struck the border village of Kirchinga in Madagali LGA about 8:30pm where they set houses ablaze before proceeding to Shuwa where they killed scores of people.
The source added that the attackers came into the town in a convoy of 13 Hilux pick-up vans, shooting sporadically as people scampered into different directions for safety.
The source maintained that the military personnel manning different checkpoints staged a retreat as the gunmen laid siege to the border villages for more than five hours.
A resident of Shuwa, Mr Kwaje Bitrus, said the gunmen launched attacks on many places in Shuwa including a bishop’s house, a theological school, a police station as well as houses of prominent people in the town, leading to the death of two people.
The chairman of Madagali LG, Mr Maina Ularamu, confirmed the incident, saying that the gunmen attacked many places including schools, residential houses, banks and a police station.
A pastor who preferred anonymity said the gunmen destroyed three banks and many shops in the town while two lives were lost in the attack which lasted throughout the night.
“When the soldiers at the military checkpoints saw the number of the attackers, they retreated into the nearby bushes and the gunmen operated without challenge during the operation that lasted throughout the night.”
Also, the member representing Michika LGA in Adamawa State House of Assembly, Hon. Adamu Kamale, confirmed the attack on Michika.
We slept in the hills – Michika residents
Some residents of Michika town in Adamawa said they slept in the hills and nearby bushes during Wednesday night attack on the town by suspected insurgents.
Some of the residents told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on phone, yesterday that the attackers arrived in the town around 9pm to unleash the mayhem for about five hours.
We’re ready to end Boko Haram menace – Defence Hqs
The military yesterday disclosed that the counter-insurgency war aimed at stopping the Boko Haram terrorism in the country has entered into a new phase that is expected to end the menace once and for all.
The Defence Headquarters, through its director of information Major General Chris Olukolade, who briefed defence correspondents in Abuja, also condemned in strong terms the terror unleashed on the Federal Government College in Yobe State that led to the killing of many students.
“The dastardly act has expectedly attracted the reaction of well-meaning individuals who have been condemning the senseless bloodletting. Disturbing as this trend proves, the fact remains that the chilly episodes are simply typical of terrorists’ intention to intimidate the people into subscribing to their false claim to invincibility,” he said.
Olukolade explained that the new approach adopted by the military has started and it is aimed at strengthening efforts being made at apprehending the terrorists before they escape to the neighbouring countries.
“The purpose of this briefing is to intimate you with the elevation of counter-terrorism campaign in the country. The new approach marks another phase in the operations designed to further contain the terrorists and their activities. The specialized campaign which has commenced is being undertaken simultaneously in Yobe, Borno and Adamawa states. This operation is also in furtherance of efforts at apprehending the terrorists and ensuring they do not escape out of Nigeria as they are now so desperate to do.”
He also gave a vivid account of another attack on some communities in Adamawa State on Wednesday night that led to the killing of six terrorists, one soldier and three civilians.
Yobe school killings: Jonathan’s broadcast on centenary misplaced – APC
The All Progressives Congress (APC) has sharply criticised President Goodluck Jonathan for devoting his broadcast to the nation on Wednesday night to the centenary celebrations instead of the national tragedy involving the cold-blooded murder of over 40 schoolchildren in Yobe State.
In a statement issued in Lagos on Thursday by its interim national publicity secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said the president’s action sends a wrong signal to the world about the value which the Nigerian government places on the lives of the nation’s children.
It wondered what was so important about the centenary celebrations that it would be elevated over and above what in any nation would be considered a monumental tragedy, describing the president’s broadcast as insensitive, misplaced, and an embarrassment to the nation. ‘’Even as the nation is still counting the death toll from Monday night’s senseless and gruesome murder of our children, and the ceaseless killings of innocent civilians before that, the president has already switched into a celebratory mood, dwelling on themoney-wasting centenary celebrations instead of leading a clearly distraught nation in mourning. “Nothing better illustrates the fact that the president showed more concern about the centenary celebrations than the calamity that befell the nation than the mention, in only about three paragraphs, of the tragedy in a speech that spanned over 40 paragraphs.”
The party said now that the president has goofed again, he should quickly make amends by visiting the scene of the tragedy to empathize with the families of the victims as well as the government and people of the state, which is what any leader worth his salt would do under the circumstance.
It said in case President Jonathan is still in doubt on whether or not to take a trip to Yobe, and indeed Borno where hundreds of innocent citizens have been dispatched to their early graves by rampaging insurgents in the past few weeks, he should take a cue from what other presidents do in times like this.’’In the US, for example, President Barack Obama was his country’s ‘consoler in chief’ as he visited scenes of the tragedies that have occurred in his country since he assumed office, whether it is the school massacre in Connecticut, the mass shooting in Fort Hood,Texas, or the tornado in Joplin, Missouri.
Boko Haram Kingpin Arrested in Makurdi
A man suspected to be a Boko Haram kingpin on a mission to unleash terror in Benue has been arrested by men of the police in Makurdi.
A statement signed yesterday by the special adviser to the governor on media, Dr Cletus Akwaya, said the suspected terrorist was nabbed on Tuesday by policemen.
It stated that “the Boko Haram agent ( name withheld), a Fulani, who hails from Taraba State, was arrested by the police at the Kanshio area of Makurdi following a tip-off.”
“The Police Command disclosed that the Boko Haram suspect was found with six blank cheques with the total value said to be in millions of naira. Also found on him were copies of maps of some parts of Benue State especially Makurdi, the state capital.
The detailed description of the targets were contained in an exercise book which was found on the suspect. Some of the places included a high-profile hotel in the Nyiman area of Makurdi as well as some major infrastructural facilities central to the economic life of the state capital,” the statement said.
It further added that the suspect was whisked away to an unknown location where he is being questioned by
security operatives.
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