Tuesday, 2 December 2014

BOKO HARAM ATTACK Yobe, Borno

Over 80 killed DAMATURU, the Yobe State capital, was, on Monday, under intense seige of insurgents. The insurgents,  numbering over 100... thumbnail 1 summary

Over 80 killed

DAMATURU, the Yobe State capital, was, on Monday, under intense seige of insurgents.
The insurgents,  numbering over 100, said to have carried out the dawn raid and attacked the town from Gujba Road before the morning prayers.
There were reports that students of the Yobe State University, situated on the road from the Mobile Police base, took to the bushes in different directions for safety.
The Mobile Police base, on the outskirts of the town, was said to have been razed by the rampaging gunmen, before they advanced to the main town of Damaturu.
Residents of the Gujba Road area of the city, who were woken by the sound of gunshots and explosions, fled into the bush.
A resident, speaking under condition of anonymity, said “it is chaos all over the town.
“All I heard was explosions and gunfire from my house. I could not go out for morning prayers because this started before dawn and I was afraid to leave, so I don’t get caught up in it.”
The state Police Commissioner, Marcus Danladi, in a subtle confirmation of the attack, said they were dealing with a “serious situation.”
Civilian vigilantes in the city claimed that more than 40 Boko Haram fighters were killed.
A staff member at the Federal Polytechnic in Damaturu said the fighting was still raging by mid-morning and some shells had landed in the university campus.
The Nigerian troops, including the men of the Air Force, engaged the terrorists.
Air Force troops engages insurgents
According to the Twitter handle of the Defence headquarters, “troops backed by the Air Force are carefully engaging the terrorists who attacked Damaturu on Monday morning.”
It explained that the reason for the careful engagement was to secure the lives of the civilians in the town.
Residents of Damaturu, who were still indoors, told the Nigerian Tribune on phone that as of 2.02 p.m., sporadic shooting were ongoing, with fighter jets bombarding places suspected to have been captured by the Boko Haram sect.
A  resident, Mallam Ubaniya Shuiabu, who spoke with the Nigerian Tribune on phone, said Damaturu had come under heavy fire.
According to security sources in the capital, a heavy fight ensued between the Nigerian troops and the terrorists before the situation came under the control of the military.
He said all security operatives were at alert, as some of the insurgents, who melted into the city, might take other parts of the town
“There is no battle as such that you will not have casualty, but we have minimal casualty, while they had heavy casualty, but I am not in position to tell you how many soldiers or other security operatives or Boko Haram were killed, because I was not counting.
“We are busy for now, we shall talk later, please. Thank you,” he said.
Calls made among residents informed that corpses littered the streets, but the military were in control of the situation.
A hospital source at the Sani Abacha General Hospital said corpses were being brought to the hospital.
“I do not count corpses, but those who were bringing the dead said they had so far, counted over 70,” he said.
Also speaking, another source told the Nigerian Tribune on phone that “whatever you heard about Damaturu today may be true or false, because nobody was outside to see what is happening. We are all indoors praying. What we are hearing even as we speak is gunshots and military fighter jets hovering around and throwing bombs.
“In my area, we are still under heavy fire. I heard that they burnt down Bukar Abba University and have attempted going to the Government House, but I don’t know what was going on now. The Police Commissioner is not picking his calls, though I have tried calling several times,” he said.
Another blast in Maiduguri market
In a related development, barely one week after a bomb blast killed over 60 persons at the Maiduguri Monday Market, Borno State, another blast, on Monday morning, killed 22 persons, leaving over 50 in critical state.
This was disclosed by a source at the Specialist Hospital in Maiduguri, where victims were admitted.
The source, who was not authorised to speak to the press, told the Nigerian Tribune that so far, 22 had been confirmed dead, while over 50 brought into the hospital were in critical situation.
“We hope they recover, but I doubt the state of the victims at the moment. We are still waiting, as the victims are still being evacuated. I was told it happened around where people sell chicken at the Monday Market; I think people should be very careful these days, especially as we are approaching Christmas and election,” he said.
Yobe gov condems attack
Meanwhile, Governor Ibrahim Geidam of Yobe State, who was on official assignment in Abuja, when briefed on the situation by heads of law enforcement agencies, condemned the attack, describing it as heinous and barbaric.
The governor also expressed appreciation to the security forces who ensured they repelled the attack and forced many of the attackers to flee.
“As a result of their efforts, Damaturu remains firmly under government’s control,” he said.
The governor urged people in Damaturu and across the state to continue to remain vigilant and pray to Almighty Allah for His intervention.
While commending the security forces for the good work in repelling the attack, the governor also called on them to remain at their highest alert level and carry the good work to its logical conclusion.
The governor directed hospital authorities to provide adequate support to innocent victims of the attack.
‘FG not behind Boko Haram’
President Goodluck Jonathan has, however, condemned Boko Haram attacks in various states in the country, including the recent Kano blast, which claimed lives and property.
The president also chided those he claimed were insinuating that the Federal Government had a hand in the sponsorship of the Boko Haram sect.
He said there was no way a government in power, which had all the heads of security agencies in the country from the region, to take such a heinous step.
Speaking through Vice President Namadi Sambo in Kano, on Monday, President Jonathan said with the high positions in government, occupied by people from the North, he could not be a party to perpetration of heinous act against Muslim brothers or Christians.
“I want to say categorically that the government is not a party to this and the government is doing everything to arrest the terrorists. The government is determined to ensure the restoration of peace,” he said, while assuring that the menace would soon be a thing of the past.
Minister of National Planning, Dr Abubakar Sulaiman, blamed continued onslaught of the Boko Haram sect on Nigeria on alleged animosity the country share with Francophone West African countries.
Speaking with journalists in Ilorin, Kwara State, the minister, who said Nigeria should revisit its Francophone policy, added that the issue of Boko Haram insurgency was a political issue and fundamentally a military issue.
“First, the issue of terrorism is a global issue, regional issue and sub-regional issue. Second, the terrorism we have in Nigeria has internal and external dimensions to it.
“Some of the terrorists are not just Nigerians, they are not operating from Nigeria, they are operating from Nigerian borders and have some back-up from neighbouring countries.
“When you look at Nigeria’s history, we have been consistent in the kind of animosity we share with the Francophone West African countries. Nigeria should revisit, for instance, our Francophone policy. We should look at the French policy to Nigeria. We should look at the position of France to Nigeria security. We should look at what had been over the years, the strategy in the areas of politics, what had been relations, attitude, orientation, conduct, posture of France to Nigeria.
“Again, we still need to go back to what has been the attitude of France and French government to Boko Haram issue in our ability to fight terrorism,” he said.
A renowned Islamic scholar, Sheikh Dahiru Usman Bauchi, said the Federal Government has failed in its effort to protect lives and property of the people.
Speaking in Bauchi, on Monday, at a special prayer session held for the repose of those who lost their lives to last week Friday’s bomb attacks on the Central Mosque in the commercial city of Kano, Sheikh Bauchi stated that it was the duty of the government to protect people in every part of the country.
According to him, security and the general well-being of the people were primary responsibilities of government and thus wondered why the Federal Government had not been able to do enough to tackle insurgency in the country, as well as protect the people.
Sheikh Bauchi, however, stressed the need for people to protect themselves against those he referred to as enemies, since government had failed to protect them.
He stated that under Islamic jurisprudence, if someone killed a person who attacked him with his weapons in self defence, that person would not be found guilty as he did it in self defence.
While condemning the Kano attack in strong terms, the reverred scholar declared those who lost their lives in the attack as martyrs, saying they died while worshipping God.
He then prayed for the repose of the souls and the quick recovery of the injured in the attack who were currently receiving treatment at various hospital in Kano.
The scholar commiserated with the Emir of Kano, Alhaji Sanusi Lamido, the government and the entire people of Kano State over the attack.
The Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), the Northern Elders’ Forum and the Arewa Youth Forum, led by Gambo Gujungu, described Nigeria as a nation under siege and urged the Federal Government to identify the real Boko Haram sect leaders and end bloodshed in Nigeria through dialogue.
The ACF, in a statement by its national publicity secretary, Muhammad Ibrahim, lamented the invasion of the Yobe State capital, despite the presence of the security agents, saying the level of insecurity in the North-East was beyond the capacity of the military.
The Federal Government, ACF said, must stop the killings in the North-East.
“We, at ACF, feel saddened and really disturbed  with the invasion of Damaturu by Boko Haram insurgents, resulting into killing of innocent people and destruction of property.
“ACF noted that Nigeria is gradually sliding into anarchy, with territories being seized and taken over by insurgents without any serious counter resistance from our military. This situation clearly demonstrate that our security are poorly equipped to contain the spread of insurgency.
“ACF will continue to call upon the government to discharge its responsibility of providing security and good governance.
“Government must, as a matter of urgency, identify the real leaders of Boko Haram sect and enter into a real dialogue with them, with a view to bringing an end to this bloodletting.
“ACF also sympathises with people and government of Borno and Yobe states over this unfortunate invasion and bomb blast, which have killed many people and left scores injured.”
Speaking in the same vein, elders from the North said the continued killings in the region by the Boko Haram sect was because the Nigerian security chiefs were not advising President Jonathan on the right steps to take in ending the carnage.
The elders, who met under the aegis of  Northern Elders’ Forum (NEF), told the president that there was a dangerous level of anger and frustration among the citizenry in the North over failure of his administration to end insurgency and protect lives.
Secretary of the northern elders, Dr Hakeem Baba Ahmed, in a statement issued in Kaduna, on Monday, said “President Jonathan is being surrounded by security chiefs who are not doing their jobs.”
The elders said if the security chiefs were actually doing their jobs, “they should have advised him that law-abiding northerners are on the verge of disregarding all appeal for restraints, respect and order in the face of the appearance of total absence of any evidence that government is concerned with their security.
“The forum calls on all Nigerians to exert all lawful pressure on President Jonathan to stop the carnage against Nigerians in the North.
“The Kano mosque massacre and invasion of Damaturu on Monday stand out as episodes that highlighted the degree to which citizens in northern Nigeria live at the mercy of terror.
“More shocking than the massacre and the continuous occupation of the Nigerian territory is the silence of leaders from the North, particularly former heads of state and those who hold political position today.
“By their silence, people of the North are beginning to treat them as complicity in the apparent conspiracy to break the spirit, economy and political capacity of the people of the North.
“No other explanation makes sense for the indifference and collaboration of most northern leaders and political office holders, other than the one that also suggest that they have also abandoned their own people.”
The elders said any attempt to use violence to abridge the right of Nigerians to vote freely under a secure environment would be resisted.
“The forum calls on all northerners and Nigerians to remain calm and take all lawful measures to improve their security,” it said.

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