Boko Haram yesterday struck back across northern Nigeria with explosions in Maiduguri that wounded two soldiers, and another blast in a church in Niger State. The sect, apparently responding to the attacks by men of the Joint Military Task Force (JTF), triggered a mass exodus from Maiduguri.
The bomb in Maiduguri exploded on Baga Road, Maiduguri Metropolitan Council (MMC), injuring two soldiers. The soldiers allegedly shot dead three members of the sect who attacked their military vehicle.
Confirming the attack, the spokesman of the JTF, Colonel Victor Ebheleme, said that the bomb was thrown at the patrol vehicle of the soldiers while on a routine duty in the area, injuring two soldiers.
He said the soldiers engaged the sect members in a gun duel, killing three of them, while others fled and were pursued.
Another explosion occurred when a NEMA vehicle climbed a bomb buried in a pothole along the same Baga Road, but no injury was reported as at press time.
People in their thousands are relocating from Maiduguri to their villages and other neighboring states they consider safe, as the city has been turned into a war zone where business and social activities have come to a standstill.
When our correspondent visited some motor parks across the metropolis, thousands of people, including students of the University of Maiduguri which was closed on Monday, were seen trying to flee the embattled city.
The management of the University of Maiduguri, on Monday, due to what it described as security threat to both the institution and the students, closed down the institution.
A student of the institution, Ibrahim Idris, said they received the news of the closure with mixed feelings because students can no longer settle and read peacefully, as gunshots and bombings were the order of the day around the institution. However, they also regretted that the school’s calendar will be disrupted due to the closure.
Meanwhile, the Borno State government has described the security situation in the state as unfortunate, adding that the security measures put in place were aimed at curtailing the incessant bombings and killings of security agents and other innocent citizens.
The state government and the JTF urged the general public not to panic or migrate from their houses as adequate measures have now been put in place by the government to ensure that security operations take human face.
The government, in a press release signed by the secretary to the state government (SSG), Ambassador Baba Ahmed Jidda, stated that government was not unmindful of the hardship being experienced by the general public as a result of the recent ban on commercial motorcycle operators. The statement said government would soon distribute tricycles and buses as palliative measures to ease the current hardship.
Barely 48 hours after the bomb blast at All Christian Mission Church, Suleja, there was another bomb blast on Monday night near ECWA Church, Madalla, a suburb of Suleja town in Niger state. No life was lost.
An eyewitness told LEADERSHIP that the bomb exploded close to ECWA Church in Madalla at about 8:39pm. No one has claimed responsibility for the explosion which caused chaos among residents of the area which is the boundary between the state and the Federal Capital Territory Abuja.
It was gathered that an unknown man was sighted by a woman (names withheld) while trying to drop the said bomb and when the woman raised alarm the man quickly droped the bomb about few metres away from the church and immediately took to his heels.
Before the residents could make any attempt to apprehend the man the bomb exploded causing more confusion as the residents of the area scampered for safety.
The police public relations officer, Mr Richard Adamu Oguche, confirmed the incident and said the bomb was dropped close to ECWA Church and that the explosion did not cause any harm to anybody or the church building.
He said the police was on top of the situation to bring those behind the bomb blasts to book.
Governor Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu of Niger State has condemned the spate of explosions currently rocking the nation and urged President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan to quickly convene a stakeholder summit to proffer far-reaching solutions to the incessant bombings.
Aliyu was reacting to the latest bomb incident in Madalla which occurred barely 24 hours after an earlier blast at a church in Suleja. Speaking through his chief press secretary, Danladi Ndayebo, the governor said that the bombings in sections of the country have become a national emergency and must be treated as such.
“The issue of security should not be left to government alone. My thinking is that government alone cannot stop the activities of terrorists which have left hundreds of innocent Nigerians either dead or wounded” .
“The current spate of terrorism, if not checked, will among other things affect Nigeria’s quest for foreign direct investment and ultimately thwart the attainment of Vision 20-2020”, Aliyu said.
Meanwhile, a 19-man delegation of leaders of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) yesterday approached President Jonathan with what they described as a lasting solution to religious extremism by the Boko Haram, saying only a unity and peace conference would address the violence and terrorism unleashed on fellow Nigerians by the Islamic sect.
Chairman of the ACF Board of Trustees and former FCT minister Lt.Gen. Jeremiah Useni (rtd), who led the delegation of Arewa leaders to a meeting with the president at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, noted that they shared the concern of the president and the federal government on the heightened state of insecurity in the North.He deplored the militancy and violations of the rule of law in the country.
Other members of the delegation included Alhaji Aliko Mohammed, Alhaji Hassan Adamu, Maj. Gen. Lawrence Onoja, Alhaji Saidu Barda, and Brigadier Musa Shehu.
Useni told Jonathan that as part of efforts to help find lasting solutions to the intolerance and religious extremism, “the ACF is organising a unity and peace conference later in the year to address ethno-religious divisions, poverty and related issues militating against the development of the country”.
Responding, President Jonathan thanked the ACF for the role they had played collectively and individually for peace and stability in the country.
He expressed the confidence that the judiciary would handle cases arising from the elections properly, adding that “what makes people angry is when things are not done properly”.
President Jonathan said while there was no doubt that the 2011 elections were not perfect, “by 2015, the elections will be even better and litigations will reduce”.
He said “government would do its best, but we cannot succeed unless leaders join us in the efforts to improve the nation”, adding that the administration would pay specific attention to security matters.