28 Feared Killed, Scores Injured as Boko Haram Attacks Yobe
Written by Adamu Abuh (Abuja), John Akubo (Lokoja), Charles Akpeji (Gombe) and Njadvara Musa (Damaturu)
Nigerian Guardian
TWENTY-THREE people were yesterday morning feared killed after two suspected Boko Haram suicide bombers burst into the Shiite Muslim procession in Potiskum town of Yobe State to commemorate the new Islamic calendar year.
The other Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) were however, not detonated, but 48 people were also injured in the first blast before the other suicide bomber was arrested yesterday by the police.
Speaking on the incident yesterday in Damaturu, the Police Commissioner, Danladi Markus in a telephone interview, said: “There was a Monday morning blast in Potiskum that claimed the lives of over a dozen people with the injuring of others, but I cannot give you the exact number of casualties as I am on my way to the scene of the blast, which is 100 kilometres from the state capital.
“At this moment, I am travelling to Postiskum to assess the extent of damages to both lives and property. One of the suspects was arrested at the blast scene while the military and police rescue teams have evacuated many people to the Potiskum hospital for treatment.”
A resident, Hamza Isa, also said: “When the blast went off by 10:00 a.m. this morning, all of us ran into different directions for safety as the explosion rented the air with deafening sounds and plume of smoke for half an hour before soldiers and policemen rushed to the blast scene near the old market.
“The security operatives responded with sporadic gunshots to show their readiness to stem any further attack on the town and this caused panic among traders who flee into various directions, leaving the streets and market empty for over three hours.”
Besides, suspected members of the sect had at the weekend attacked the Koton-karfe Federal Medium Security Prisons in Kogi State by 10:00 p.m. breaking through the wall to set free all 145 inmates, vandalised record office and the entire prison thrown ajar.
Later, 12 of the prisoners returned while one died from bullet injuries.
This is the second time in two years that external insurgents are over-running the Kotokarfi Prison to free inmates.
In 2012, 119 inmates, who were awaiting trial, were also freed by the attackers and many never returned.
According to an eyewitness, the insurgents invaded the prison in a commando style and operated for more than three hours unchallenged, adding that the security came when the damage had been done.
Governor Ibrahim Gaidam of Yobe State has condemned the attack in Potiskum town during a yearly procession of members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria marking Ashurah.
A statement signed yesterday by Special Adviser to the Governor on Press Affairs, Mr. Abdullahi Bego, said: “His Excellency has condemned the attack, in which many lives were lost and injuries sustained, as heinous, barbaric and unwarranted.
“The governor regrets that the attack came at a time that peace is generally returning to the state.
“The governor notes that those behind the attack are criminals who want to fan the embers of religious discord. He called on all the people of the state to remain calm and vigilant.
“His Excellency, Governor Gaidam has prayed the Almighty Allah (SWT) to grant eternal repose to those killed in the attack and quick recovery to those who have sustained injuries.
“The governor has also directed government hospitals in the area to provide immediate medical treatment to all victims of the attack free of charge.”
Meanwhile, the Minister for Transport, Alhaji Idris Umar, who was in Gombe State to condole with both the state government and the people of the state over last week terrorists’ attack which led to massive destruction of lives and property, said additional security personnel, which include soldiers, had been deployed to the region to bring to an end the insurgent activities in the North-East.
He said the insurgents must begin to seek for alternative ways of surviving as the Federal Government is living no stone unturned to cripple their activities.
According to him: “Insurgency wise, government is doing a lot in the area of deployment of troops to the areas as well as deployment of relevant and necessary equipment to fight this insurgency. By the grace of God in no distant future, this thing will be over.”
In another development, following the recent attacks on Mubi town by Boko Haram insurgents, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and Adamawa State Emergency Management Agency (ASEMA) have recorded 10,496 internally-displaced persons in five camps situated in Yola South and Fufore while more people are still pouring into the state capital.
Five women were safely delivered in the two of the IDP camps.
Leading a special team to the state, the Director of Relief and Rehabilitation of NEMA, Mr. Eugene Ezeh, said the agency had delivered adequate relief materials to all the established camps in the state and the new ones would be provided with tents.
Receiving the NEMA team, the Adamawa State Governor, Bala Jame Ngilari, said that the state government had sent vehicles for the evacuation of thousands of displaced persons who were scattered in various locations around Mubi and those that ran into Cameroun to the established camps in Yola.
The Comptroller-General, Alhaji Aminu Suley who spoke when the Governor of Kogi State, Captain Idris Wada visited, said the attackers forcefully released 144 prisoners.
Suley said that 26 of the prisoners were convicted of various crimes while 119 were awaiting trial for robbery, culpable homicide and others.
He pleaded with the governor to prevail on the Judiciary to wake up to their duties by trying suspected inmates awaiting trial, saying that some of the inmates have no business being in the prison.
The prison, which was stinking and looking very unconducive for humans to live in, drew the ire of Governor Wada who decried the level of inhuman condition that was laid bare by the attack promised to provide beddings.
He said prison yard should be conducive to serve as a reformatory home for inmates not for breeding criminals adding that it is not good for the inmates to sleep on bare floor.
He asked the minister to expedite action on early completion of the new Kotokarfi Prison so that the old building, which was established in 1934, can become a relic or monument for tourism.
Wada reiterated the fact that he would continue to collaborate with prison service and the Federal Government to ensure the new prison is completed soon.
He promised to invoke his power on prerogative of mercy to help some of the inmates languishing in jail without trial.
Umar, who expressed his readiness to hold an emergency meeting with the entire commissioners for transport across the 36 states of the country, said the meeting would go a long way to look into ways of preventing further occurrence of terrorist activities in motor parks.
He said: “As the Minister of Transport, I intend to summon an emergency meeting of commissioners of transport in all states of the country so that we can discuss and adopt strategies on how best to safeguard our motor parks.”
Ngilari said: “The tragedy has really stressed us, we require your intervention for both short and long-term.”
He noted that the majority of the displaced persons live with their relatives in the host communities. He, therefore, appealed to them to come forward and register so that they too could benefit from whatever is provided.
Also speaking at the occasion, the Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, Hajiya Zainab Maina, said President Goodluck Jonathan assigned her to assess the situation and assured them of his continuous support up to the time when they would be going back to their homes. She said the Federal Government has been doing everything possible to see the end of this insurgency.
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar yesterday faulted Federal Government’s approach to end insurgency in the country, saying government has not done enough to tackle the Boko Haram terrorists whose sphere of influence in the North-East geo-political zone is expanding by the day.
Atiku, who addressed a world press conference yesterday at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja, wondered why the authorities have not fully engaged members of the civilian Joint Task Force (JTF) who are well versed with the terrain in the North-East geo-political zone to assist in fighting the insurgents.
A visibly worried Atiku also said it beats his imagination that in spite of billions of naira voted for defence in the past five years, Nigerian troops are yet to be duly equipped to stop the Islamic insurgents from carrying out their nefarious activities.
Lamenting the plight of those that have fallen victim of the terrorists, he called on the authorities to sit up and tackle the Boko Haram insurgents who could be nursing the goal of annexing the entire country.
Flanked by members of the National Assembly representing various parts of the North-East, he said, among others: “ I am Nigerian. I believe in the integrity of Nigeria as a whole, and every part of this country matters to me. But I was born and bred in the North-East. So, please, excuse me if I should say a few words about the part of the country where I am from, about what the people from the North-East of Nigeria have had to suffer for far, far too long.
“Things should never have got to this stage. Thousands of Nigerians have had to flee their homes. Their houses and farms have been destroyed. They do not know where to go or how to restart their lives. That is the degree to which we have come in this country. I say this with reluctance and with shame.
“The situation in which we find ourselves today is grave. Much of Borno, and the north of Adamawa and Yobe states is already at the mercy of the terrorists. It started a few months ago with Bama, which is nearly 400 kilometres from Yola, capital of Adamawa State.
“The next major town to be taken by terrorists was Gwoza, where a terrorist caliphate flag has long been hoisted. Smaller towns near Gwoza such as Pulka and Limankra are equally not free. Next was Madagali. The town is still being occupied. Then fell Gulak. Next was Michika, then Bazza. Next was the twin town of Uba, which is half Adamawa and half Borno.
 |
| Federal Republic of Nigeria military brass. |
Nigerian Guardian
TWENTY-THREE people were yesterday morning feared killed after two suspected Boko Haram suicide bombers burst into the Shiite Muslim procession in Potiskum town of Yobe State to commemorate the new Islamic calendar year.
The other Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) were however, not detonated, but 48 people were also injured in the first blast before the other suicide bomber was arrested yesterday by the police.
Speaking on the incident yesterday in Damaturu, the Police Commissioner, Danladi Markus in a telephone interview, said: “There was a Monday morning blast in Potiskum that claimed the lives of over a dozen people with the injuring of others, but I cannot give you the exact number of casualties as I am on my way to the scene of the blast, which is 100 kilometres from the state capital.
“At this moment, I am travelling to Postiskum to assess the extent of damages to both lives and property. One of the suspects was arrested at the blast scene while the military and police rescue teams have evacuated many people to the Potiskum hospital for treatment.”
A resident, Hamza Isa, also said: “When the blast went off by 10:00 a.m. this morning, all of us ran into different directions for safety as the explosion rented the air with deafening sounds and plume of smoke for half an hour before soldiers and policemen rushed to the blast scene near the old market.
“The security operatives responded with sporadic gunshots to show their readiness to stem any further attack on the town and this caused panic among traders who flee into various directions, leaving the streets and market empty for over three hours.”
Besides, suspected members of the sect had at the weekend attacked the Koton-karfe Federal Medium Security Prisons in Kogi State by 10:00 p.m. breaking through the wall to set free all 145 inmates, vandalised record office and the entire prison thrown ajar.
Later, 12 of the prisoners returned while one died from bullet injuries.
This is the second time in two years that external insurgents are over-running the Kotokarfi Prison to free inmates.
In 2012, 119 inmates, who were awaiting trial, were also freed by the attackers and many never returned.
According to an eyewitness, the insurgents invaded the prison in a commando style and operated for more than three hours unchallenged, adding that the security came when the damage had been done.
Governor Ibrahim Gaidam of Yobe State has condemned the attack in Potiskum town during a yearly procession of members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria marking Ashurah.
A statement signed yesterday by Special Adviser to the Governor on Press Affairs, Mr. Abdullahi Bego, said: “His Excellency has condemned the attack, in which many lives were lost and injuries sustained, as heinous, barbaric and unwarranted.
“The governor regrets that the attack came at a time that peace is generally returning to the state.
“The governor notes that those behind the attack are criminals who want to fan the embers of religious discord. He called on all the people of the state to remain calm and vigilant.
“His Excellency, Governor Gaidam has prayed the Almighty Allah (SWT) to grant eternal repose to those killed in the attack and quick recovery to those who have sustained injuries.
“The governor has also directed government hospitals in the area to provide immediate medical treatment to all victims of the attack free of charge.”
Meanwhile, the Minister for Transport, Alhaji Idris Umar, who was in Gombe State to condole with both the state government and the people of the state over last week terrorists’ attack which led to massive destruction of lives and property, said additional security personnel, which include soldiers, had been deployed to the region to bring to an end the insurgent activities in the North-East.
He said the insurgents must begin to seek for alternative ways of surviving as the Federal Government is living no stone unturned to cripple their activities.
According to him: “Insurgency wise, government is doing a lot in the area of deployment of troops to the areas as well as deployment of relevant and necessary equipment to fight this insurgency. By the grace of God in no distant future, this thing will be over.”
In another development, following the recent attacks on Mubi town by Boko Haram insurgents, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and Adamawa State Emergency Management Agency (ASEMA) have recorded 10,496 internally-displaced persons in five camps situated in Yola South and Fufore while more people are still pouring into the state capital.
Five women were safely delivered in the two of the IDP camps.
Leading a special team to the state, the Director of Relief and Rehabilitation of NEMA, Mr. Eugene Ezeh, said the agency had delivered adequate relief materials to all the established camps in the state and the new ones would be provided with tents.
Receiving the NEMA team, the Adamawa State Governor, Bala Jame Ngilari, said that the state government had sent vehicles for the evacuation of thousands of displaced persons who were scattered in various locations around Mubi and those that ran into Cameroun to the established camps in Yola.
The Comptroller-General, Alhaji Aminu Suley who spoke when the Governor of Kogi State, Captain Idris Wada visited, said the attackers forcefully released 144 prisoners.
Suley said that 26 of the prisoners were convicted of various crimes while 119 were awaiting trial for robbery, culpable homicide and others.
He pleaded with the governor to prevail on the Judiciary to wake up to their duties by trying suspected inmates awaiting trial, saying that some of the inmates have no business being in the prison.
The prison, which was stinking and looking very unconducive for humans to live in, drew the ire of Governor Wada who decried the level of inhuman condition that was laid bare by the attack promised to provide beddings.
He said prison yard should be conducive to serve as a reformatory home for inmates not for breeding criminals adding that it is not good for the inmates to sleep on bare floor.
He asked the minister to expedite action on early completion of the new Kotokarfi Prison so that the old building, which was established in 1934, can become a relic or monument for tourism.
Wada reiterated the fact that he would continue to collaborate with prison service and the Federal Government to ensure the new prison is completed soon.
He promised to invoke his power on prerogative of mercy to help some of the inmates languishing in jail without trial.
Umar, who expressed his readiness to hold an emergency meeting with the entire commissioners for transport across the 36 states of the country, said the meeting would go a long way to look into ways of preventing further occurrence of terrorist activities in motor parks.
He said: “As the Minister of Transport, I intend to summon an emergency meeting of commissioners of transport in all states of the country so that we can discuss and adopt strategies on how best to safeguard our motor parks.”
Ngilari said: “The tragedy has really stressed us, we require your intervention for both short and long-term.”
He noted that the majority of the displaced persons live with their relatives in the host communities. He, therefore, appealed to them to come forward and register so that they too could benefit from whatever is provided.
Also speaking at the occasion, the Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, Hajiya Zainab Maina, said President Goodluck Jonathan assigned her to assess the situation and assured them of his continuous support up to the time when they would be going back to their homes. She said the Federal Government has been doing everything possible to see the end of this insurgency.
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar yesterday faulted Federal Government’s approach to end insurgency in the country, saying government has not done enough to tackle the Boko Haram terrorists whose sphere of influence in the North-East geo-political zone is expanding by the day.
Atiku, who addressed a world press conference yesterday at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja, wondered why the authorities have not fully engaged members of the civilian Joint Task Force (JTF) who are well versed with the terrain in the North-East geo-political zone to assist in fighting the insurgents.
A visibly worried Atiku also said it beats his imagination that in spite of billions of naira voted for defence in the past five years, Nigerian troops are yet to be duly equipped to stop the Islamic insurgents from carrying out their nefarious activities.
Lamenting the plight of those that have fallen victim of the terrorists, he called on the authorities to sit up and tackle the Boko Haram insurgents who could be nursing the goal of annexing the entire country.
Flanked by members of the National Assembly representing various parts of the North-East, he said, among others: “ I am Nigerian. I believe in the integrity of Nigeria as a whole, and every part of this country matters to me. But I was born and bred in the North-East. So, please, excuse me if I should say a few words about the part of the country where I am from, about what the people from the North-East of Nigeria have had to suffer for far, far too long.
“Things should never have got to this stage. Thousands of Nigerians have had to flee their homes. Their houses and farms have been destroyed. They do not know where to go or how to restart their lives. That is the degree to which we have come in this country. I say this with reluctance and with shame.
“The situation in which we find ourselves today is grave. Much of Borno, and the north of Adamawa and Yobe states is already at the mercy of the terrorists. It started a few months ago with Bama, which is nearly 400 kilometres from Yola, capital of Adamawa State.
“The next major town to be taken by terrorists was Gwoza, where a terrorist caliphate flag has long been hoisted. Smaller towns near Gwoza such as Pulka and Limankra are equally not free. Next was Madagali. The town is still being occupied. Then fell Gulak. Next was Michika, then Bazza. Next was the twin town of Uba, which is half Adamawa and half Borno.
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