,000 soldiers for anti-terror training
REIGN of terror continued in the northern part of the country on
Monday night as suspected Boko Haram gunmen attacked a military patrol
vehicle in Mubi town of Adamawa State, killing a soldier and a
policeman.
It was learnt that three civilians were also killed by stray bullets,
while three other soldiers who were in the patrol vehicle sustained
serious injuries after sporadic shoot-outs with the armed Islamic sect
members.
Mubi is a border town with Cameroun and 230 kilometres south of Yola, the Adamawa State capital.
Confirming the killings in an interview, the spokesperson of Adamawa
State Police Command, Altine Daniel, said: “One of the military patrol
vehicles was attacked yesterday (Monday evening) on one of the streets
in Mubi. Five people, including one police officer and a military
officer, were killed. Besides, three civilians were killed by stray
bullets.”
She further disclosed that three soldiers sustained gun-shot wounds
while the gunmen were being repelled from the attacks that lasted for
about half an hour.
According to the police spokesperson, the ambushing of the military
patrol vehicle was triggered by the arrest of six suspected Boko Haram
gunmen on Sunday night at an undisclosed location in Mubi.
“The gunmen rode on motorcycles before opening fire atthe military
patrol vehicle. We have beefed up security in the affected area by
cordoning it off. People should go about their
normal businesses, the police are on top of the security situation in Adamawa State,” Altine said.
Multiple explosions were also heard in different parts of Mubi, but
the police spokesperson said “no casualty was recorded as a result of
the blast, and no arrest was made by the police over the attacks and
bomb blasts.”
Also confirming the incident to newsmen yesterday in Yola, the
Brigade Commander of 23 Armoured Brigade, Gen. John Nwaoga, said the
military team was on its routine patrol in Mubi when the sad incident
occurred.
He said that on Sunday night, the team raided the hide-out of the
suspected Boko Haram members in Mubi town and killed six members of the
gang in a cross-fire.
According to the army top officer, two rifles and a huge number of
ammunition were recovered from the Boko Haram camp in Mubi during the
midnight raid.
The brigade commander spoke as the Plateau State Commissioner of
Police, Mr. Emmanuel Dipo Ayeni, lamented that the peace that was being
enjoyed in the state for some time now was truncated by the bombing of
the Church of Christ in Nigeria (COCIN) on Sunday, February 26, leading
to loss of lives and property. Ayeni spoke yesterday at the joint
security meeting of the Special Task Force (STF), police and the General
Officer Commanding (GOC) of the 3 Armoured Division. Apart from Ayeni,
STF Commander, Maj.-Gen. Mohammed Ibrahim Bala, was physically present
with the representative of the GOC.
Ayeni said the situation in the state was very peculiar as Plateau
has been having the sectarian crises for some years now, which he noted,
resulted in wanton destruction of lives and property. He told the
gathering that the security agencies had devised new strategies “to put a
total full stop to the senseless killings, the mayhem, and the
blood-birth on the Plateau. As we are having some respite, these enemies
of peace, enemies of our nation struck and it was a very terrible one.”
In his remarks, the STF Commander said the soldiers were trained to
detect any fake soldier in military uniform, pointing out that there
were inherent things, which the real soldiers know to detect fake
soldiers, which were not known to the civilians.
His words: “If you don’t know all those things, it is difficult. You
believe everybody you see in uniform is a genuine person. My advice is
this; if for any reason you suspect anybody, insist on seeing his
identification card. The moment he refuses to bring out his identity
card, then you will know something is wrong and you can now raise an
alarm and people will come around. The STF uniform is specially ordered.
We will start checking even ourselves as I come to Plateau.”
Jos, the capital of Plateau State, was a ghost city yesterday when
Muslim youths emerged from nowhere around Old Bukuru Park and forced the
shops and other business centres closed as the owners were being
threatened with dangerous weapons with a view to stabbing them. Also,
the Igbo traders mobilised themselves marching forward to take up the
gauntlet when all of a sudden a Hilux van loaded with soldiers of the
Special Task Force (STF) emerged. The soldiers were on their way to
change their spare tyres that had punctured. They had to stop to quench
the looming danger.
At Bauchi Road, the restive youths there allegedly mobilised
themselves for the killing of non-Muslims. There action was informed by
the protest of the students of the University of Jos who blocked the
highway because one of them was allegedly stabbed to death on Monday
evening. It was yesterday that the truth dawned to them that one of them
was killed. The protest sparked off riot at the Bauchi Road during
which injuries were inflicted on some passers-by. Yesterday, the city of
Jos was deserted as all commercial vehicles, motorcycles as well as
shop owners disappeared, leaving Jos as a ghost city.
A GANG of armed men suspected to be members of the dreaded Boko Haram
sect yesterday ambushed members of the Joint Task Force (JTF) at the
Gorondutse area of the Kano metropolis.
Two policemen were killed while a soldier was injured in the attack,
which occurred at about 5.30p.m. as residents hurried home after the
day’s work.
However, the JTF fought back and killed one of the gunmen.
Army Spokesman, Lt. Ikedichi Iweha, confirmed the attack and casualties.
Meanwhile, Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Lt.-Gen. Onyeabo Azubuike
Ihejirika, yesterday assured on the preparedness of the Army to wage the
war against terror, stating that 2,000 soldiers were being trained in
Jaji and Kachia on counter-terrorism operations in order to meet current
security challenges in the country.
The Army’s Anti-terrorism and Insurgency Centre is located at the Nigerian Army School of Infantry in Jaji, Kaduna State.
Ihejirika, who spoke at the two-day stakeholders conference on
Nigerian Army Transformation in Abuja, stressed that “the Army believes
strongly that once human capacity is developed to the required level,
every other thing will fall in place.”
And, the apex Islamic body in the north, Jama’atu Nasril Islam (JNI),
has urged the Plateau State Government to prevent further reprisal
attacks following last Sunday’s bombing of St. Finbarr’s Catholic
Church, Rayfield, Jos.
In a statement yesterday in Kaduna, the JNI Secretary-General, Dr.
Khalid Abubakar Aliyu, wrote: “The JNI, on behalf of the
President-General and the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad
Abubakar and the entire Muslim Ummah in Nigeria, condemns the bombing in
strong terms and also commiserate with those who lost their loved
ones.”
