Boko Haram
Boko
Haram insurgents continued their rampage on Monday night, killing 49
security operatives and civilians in two communities in Yobe and Borno
states.
In the attack on Buni Yadi, Gujba Local
Government Area of Yobe State, they left 20 soldiers and 20 policemen
dead while in Chinene, Gwoza LGA of Borno State, they cut the lives of
nine civilians short.
The Divisional Police Officer and the
Divisional Crime Officer of the Police Station in Bunu Yadi were
believed to be among the victims of the attack by the insurgents who
stormed the town with an Armoured Personnel Carrier and Toyota Hilux
vans.
Residents said the attackers dressed in camouflage and hoisted Boko Haram’s flag on the APC and the vans.
They said the gunmen, on arrival
moved straight to the military formation in the town from where they
launched the attack which lasted over two hours.
The attackers were said to have set the
military formation, LG secretariat, the divisional police station, the
area court, the district head’s residence and office as well as some
residential quarters ablaze.
The palace of the Emir, Alhaji Muktar
Gangaran, was also vandalised by the insurgents during the attack, the
third on Buni Yadi this year.
One of the residents, who declined to
give his name said, “We counted up to 20 dead soldiers and 20 policemen
when the attackers left our village after operating for almost two
hours.
“They overpowered the security operatives on duty and also burnt the military base and police station in the town .”
Another resident, Mallam Modibbo Kawu,
said the insurgents told them not to be scared because they were on
reprisal against the military.
“They told us not to be afraid because
they were in Buni Yadi on a reprisal against the military for
attacking them in Alagarno last week,” he said.
“I can confirm to you that several
police, soldiers and mobile policemen were killed. Their corpses were
taken to the Damaturu Specialist Hospital,” he said.
But military sources, who asked not to be named, claimed that 14 soldiers and 11 policemen lost their lives.
They regretted that the attack claimed the lives of many of their colleagues.
Reuters’ account of the attack
had it that 24 security personnel lost their lives. It quoted security
sources and civilian witness as saying that the attack occurred not
far from where the insurgents shot or burned to death 59 pupils at a
boarding school in February.
The spokesman for the military in Yobe State, Lt. Eli Lazarus, could not be reached for comment on the attack.
The state commissioner of police Mr.
Markus K. Danladi, who visited the scene, said he could not give the
casualty figure because he was still getting the details.
In Chinene, the insurgents killed nine civilians, and set ablaze churches and residential buildings.
They were said to have hoisted their
flag on some structures in Ashigashiya ward in the community, thus
depicting its conquest.
According to sources, many people
sustained serious bullet wounds while others were forced to take
refuge in nearby bushes and surrounding hills.
An LG official, Nglamuda Ibrahim, who
spoke to journalists in Maiduguri, said many of his extended family
members and friends displaced in the attack had been calling for
assistance since Monday night.
Ibrahim said, “As we speak now, I am
still receiving distress calls from them; they are all calling for help.
No soldier and no policeman had gone there yet.’’
“The Boko Haram gunmen mounted their flags in Ashigashiya ward showing that it was now under their control.
“Last night, six churches were burnt,
eight persons were killed and several others seriously injured. We
cannot count the number of houses that were burnt in Chinene village of
Chikide-Joghode-Kaghum ward.
“The insurgents also attacked Amuda
village in Chikide-Joghode-Kaghum ward where one person was killed and
several others injured.
“All we are doing now is calling on the
military authorities in the state to quickly go up there and help us
rescue those poor villagers, their wives and children.”
He listed the names of some of those
killed in Chinene village as Bulama Dajiba, Bulama John, Haruna Wadda,
Bitrus Kurma, Haruna Kwatha, Haruna Waruda, and Shaibu Galva.
A top security officer, who did not want
his name in print, said, “We all have received the report from Chinene
village. It was really another sad episode and we learnt that the
insurgents hoisted their flag in Ashigashiya.”
The Police Public Relations Officer, Gideon Jubrin, could not be reached as all his telephone lines were switched off.
Meanwhile, former president Olusegun
Obasanjo has met with people close to Boko Haram in an attempt to secure
the release of the schoolgirls kidnapped in Chibok by the sect.
The meeting which took place last
weekend at Obasanjo’s farm in Ogun State, had the relatives of
some senior Boko Haram fighters and intermediaries in attendance, Agence France Presse quoted a source on Tuesday as saying .
“The meeting was focused on how to free the girls through negotiation,” said the source who requested anonymity.
Obasanjo had previously sought to
negotiate with the insurgents after Boko Haram bombed the United Nations
headquarters in Abuja.
Then, he flew to Maiduguri to meet
relatives of former Boko Haram leader Mohammed Yusuf, who was killed in
police custody in 2009.
The 2011 talks did not help stem the
violence and some at the time doubted if Obasanjo was dealing with
people who were legitimately capable of negotiating a ceasefire.
A source told AFP that Obasanjo had voiced concern about Nigeria’s acceptance of foreign military personnel to help rescue the girls.
He was quoted to have said he was
worried that Nigeria’s prestige in Africa as a major continental power
had been diminished by President Goodluck Jonathan’s decision to bring
in Western military help, including from the United States.
Mustapha Zanna, the lawyer who helped
organise Obasanjo’s 2011 talks with Boko Haram, said he was at the
former President’s home on Saturday.
But he declined to discuss whether the Chibok abductions were on the agenda.
“I was there,” he told AFP, adding that Obasanjo was interested in helping orphans and vulnerable children in troubled North-East.
It was not clear if Obasanjo’s weekend meeting had been sanctioned by the government.
According to a source, Obasanjo
supported a prisoner-for-hostage swap that would see the abducted girls
released in exchange for a group of Boko Haram fighters.
Meanwhile, Cameroon has deployed some
1,000 troops and Armoured Personnel Carriers in its border region with
Nigeria to counter a rising threat from Boko Haram.
“Their mission will be to carry out
reconnaissance and be ready to respond with enough fire power,”
Cameroon’s Army spokesman, Lt.Col. Didier Badjeck, told Reuters by telephone from Yaounde on Tuesday.
Boko Haram, which outraged international
opinion with the abduction of over 200 schoolgirls in Chibok, Borno
State on April 14, has also carried out attacks in northern Cameroon.
Make sure the wide end of your tie is longer than the narrow end. You
might have to experiment depending on how tall you are, but the narrow
end should normally end a few inches above your belly button
Around the BackPull the wide end across the narrow end.
Wrap the wide end around the back of the narrow end and across the front once more.
Pull the wide end up through the back of the knot in the space between your neck and the knot
Pull the wide end through the front of the knot by making a small loop with your fingers
Gently pull down on the short end while moving the knot up towards your collar.
Adjust as needed and make sure the wide end comes down to your belt buckle, but not past it.by Akinlade olaitan
