Boko Haram Attacks Bama Prison in Northeastern Nigeria

Aftermath of an attack on Bama prison in northeastern Nigeria. The attack broke out 100 prisoners on May 7, 2013., a photo by Pan-African News Wire File Photos on Flickr.

How Boko Haram attacked Bama

WEDNESDAY, 08 MAY 2013 00:00 FROM MADU ONUORAH (ABUJA), SAXONE AKHAINE (KADUNA), IYABO LAWAL (IBADAN) AND CHUKWUMA MUANYA (LAGOS) NEWS - NATIONAL
Nigerian Guardian

• Lists recovered arms, victims, steps up fight against terrorism

• Jonathan, ACN, ACF condemn attack , NSCIA seeks trial

• Space agency, rights body differ on Baga violence

A GRAPHIC account of how suspected Boko Haram gunmen attacked Bama in Borno State and killed about 55 people was given by the Nigerian Army Thursday.

And bracing to the rising insecurity in the country, the army has initiated fresh moves to contain the activities of the members of Boko Haram and other terror groups.

Central to these initiatives is the establishment of Quick Response Groups (QRGs). The army also disclosed in Ibadan that it had devised balloons which would be used in information and intelligence gathering to tackle the various acts of terrorism in the country.

Brig.-Gen. Nwokoro Ijioma, who was a guest speaker in Ibadan, told officers of the Two Division who were participants at the lecture that the balloons would be deployed to the hotbeds of terrorism attacks in the country.

Ijioma, who is also the Director, Lesson Learnt Army Transformation and Innovation Centre (ATIC), Army Headquarters, Abuja, added that the growing wave of terrorism had necessitated the mounting of roadblocks in some parts of the country.

The balloons, which were unveiled in 2012, according to the General Officer Commanding (GOC), 2 Division, Maj.-Gen. Ahmed Tijani, at a lecture on “Transforming the army into a force better able to meet contemporary challenges”, have been upgraded and have a 84-kilometre launch into space.

The ORGs now patrol major highways nationwide and are also on standby to provide quick reinforcement of troops to trouble spots.

According to the Director of Army Public Relations, Brig.-Gen. Ibrahim Attahiru, the patrol teams operate along designated routes to check armed robbery, arms trafficking and kidnapping as well as other act of terrorism.

Attahiru said in Abuja that “since its inception, the QRGs have reduced banditry along major highways while denying BHTs freedom of action. They have denied BHTs (Boko Haram Terrorists) and other criminals freedom to convey Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) and its precursor materials. Additionally, the QRGs have equally supported Operation MESA troops to deal with immediate threats in their respective areas of responsibilities.

“Also, it has assisted in ensuring military presence along major highways nationwide. The QRGs have equally improved the Nigerian Army deterrence capability by its constant patrols on designated routes.

“These have helped in no small measure in repelling several attacks from BHTs and reducing the severity of these attacks when they occur. The activities of the QRGs have been highly successful in the north western part of the country. While in the central and southern Nigeria, it has assisted in checkmating other criminal vices and kidnapping. This has further reassured the civil populace of the military’s readiness to protect them so that they could go about their day-to-day socio-economic activities without fear or hindrance.”

The army spokesman gave details of the Boko Haram’s raid on government and security facilities in Bama.

According to Attahiru, “at about 0510hrs on May 7, 2013, suspected BHTs (Boko Haram terrorists) dressed in military fatigue attacked 202 Battalion Barracks in Bama with rockets-propelled grenades, general purpose machine guns, bombs, 18-seater bus and six Hilux vehicles fitted with anti-aircraft guns. The attack was aimed at overrunning the barracks and creating mayhem. It was, however, successfully repelled and the barracks was not in anyway breached. The Bama Police Station, Police Barracks, Local Government Secretariat, INEC office, Local Magistrate’s Court and a primary school were burnt by the BHTs.

“About 105 inmates were equally set free from Bama Prisons. The items recovered include four vehicles, 14 weapons, 12 IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices), assorted ammunition, several RPG tubes and bombs. Those killed in action include 21 BHTs, six police officers, 14 prison officials, two soldiers and four civilians, including three children and a woman who were burnt to death by the insurgents.”

Meanwhile, President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday deplored the attack on Bama.

According to Jonathan, the continuation of such callous attacks on innocent Nigerians, government facilities and security formations flies in the face of ongoing efforts to establish a workable frame-work for dialogue and the peaceful resolution of security challenges in northern Nigeria.

The President warned that the Federal Government’s consideration of dialogue as an option for the elimination of some threats to security should not be seen as a weakening of its resolve to use all the forces at its disposal to crush all brazen affronts to the powers and sovereignty of the Nigerian nation.

Jonathan extended condolences to the families and colleagues of the soldiers, policemen and prison officials who lost their lives in the dastardly attack.

Also, the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) has strongly condemned the attack on Bama, saying the barbaric attack was another reason for all stakeholders to work tirelessly to end the daily carnage in some parts of the North.

In a statement issued in Lagos yesterday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said while every human life is sacrosanct, it was particularly saddened by the mindless killing of security personnel in the course of carrying out their duties of ensuring the protection of life and property.

It also described as barbaric and callous the killing of defenceless citizens, especially women and children, saying the perpetrators of the senseless killings have lost their sense of decency and humanity.

The Arewa elders also said yesterday that it was unimaginable that such an attack could continue in the North when the Federal Government had opened a window of dialogue and amnesty programme to ensure an end to the insecurity ravaging the region.

In a statement by the National Publicity Secretary of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), Mr. Anthony Sani, the Arewa elders condemned the latest attack.

Besides, the apex Islamic Organisation in the country, under the ambit of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) has urged the Federal Government to ensure that those responsible for the massive killings in Baga and Bama communities in Borno State were brought to book, as it condemned what it termed the extra-judicial killings of Nigerians by security agents under the guise of fighting insurgency in the North.

The officials of the NSCIA, under the leadership of the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Ábubakar III, held a closed- door meeting in Kaduna to review government’s handling of the nation’s security challenges, saying that “the unity of the Muslim Ummah in Nigeria is a necessity for the resolution of the numerous challenges facing it.”

Meanwhile, satellite images released yesterday by the National Space Research Development Agency (NASRDA) differed with those published on April 30, 2013 by the Human Rights Watch (HRW).

The HRW had published a damage assessment of Baga Town in Borno State, which has generated a lot of media reactions. The assessment was carried out using satellite imageries of April 6 (pre-violence) and April 26 (post-violence) of the Baga respectively.

But a review of HRW damage assessment by Director-General of NASRDA, Dr. Seidu O. Mohammed, titled “Satellite Imagery Analysis of Baga and Environs, Borno State, Nigeria” showed some burnt cars and buildings damaged mainly in the southern fringe of Baga Town.

According to the review made available to The Guardian, “the estimation of the number of damaged buildings by the HRW was about 80 per cent exaggerated, because the process of generating the information was purely a desktop approach and without any ground exercise to validate the time, extent, trend, and land use activities; leading to huge misinterpretation of features (buildings, trees, fences, open court yards, uninhabited plots, etc were counted as same features (building).”