Military authorities in Abuja yesterday said that the Special Forces troops at the weekend killed three insurgents in Maiduguri, Borno State and arrested 25 others.
The Defence Headquarters, DHQ, which stated this yesterday in a statement signed by the Director, Defence Information, Brig.-Gen. Chris Olukolade, also said that troops had intercepted “messages sent to fleeing insurgents urging them not to give up but fight to the end.” said the attempt by some of them to heed the call was foiled at the weekend as they were trailed to some settlements and towns towards the border where they had planned to regroup.
Olukolade added that the troops destroyed the insurgents’ assembly points in areas north of Baga, a border town with Chad.
“Troops of the Multinational Joint Task Force carried out an operation, which resulted in the capture and destruction of the insurgents assembly points sited on the outskirts of Kaneram Dan Katsina, Tumbu Dabino and Mallam Fatori area north of Baga.
“The towns and settlements have now been secured while cordon and search operation is also ongoing in the area after the insurgents have been dislodged,” the DHQ stated. Olukolade said that 25 insurgents were rounded up while three died. Among the dead, he said, was a man he described as “a high profile terrorist identified as Abba, who had been on the list of most wanted persons.”
“The captured ones were apprehended with their weapons which include rifles, pistols, double barrelled guns and ammunition during a raid operation of the JTF in Kumshe and Bulunkutu area. “Although they succeeded in killing a security operative of the Task Force, they were all apprehended before their main planned infiltration with more arms to cause mayhem in the city,” he said.
The DHQ said in the Sambisa, troops combing the forest had been making more discoveries. “A man who had been held hostage in the forest since last year escaped bound in handcuffs as his captors fled during the troops attack on the biggest camp in the forest.” He said the freed hostage was being treated by the task force. “The troops are dominating the forest as they find a number of fresh graves, more arms and ammunition, burnt vehicles and other equipment,” he stated.
In a related development, the Canadian High Commissioner to Nigeria, Mr. Chris Cooter, has expressed support for the Federal Government on the declaration of emergency rule in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states. Speaking in Benin at the weekend, when he paid a courtesy call on the Executive Director of the Africa Network for Environment and Economic Justice, ANEEJ, Rev. David Ugolor, the high commissioner justified Canada’s position on the situation in Nigeria with the country’s experience in Afghanistan.
He said: “The government of Canada supports Nigeria on the issue of emergency rule. The security situation in the country needs a holistic approach and resolution is the best way to address terrorism.”
Cooter also noted that the Canadian government had made $25m available for the institutional strengthening of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, towards free, fair and credible election in 2015. Cooter also disclosed at the occasion that the Canadian government was planning to partner Edo State government in the area of vocational training.
According to the envoy, his home government decided to assist Edo State in the area of vocational education because it identified the lack of skills to secure employment as the major driver of unemployment in developing country.
Earlier, Cooter urged civil society organisations to double their commitment so as to ensure democratic good governance of Nigeria. He promised, however, to ensure that the Canadian government continues to provide support for civil society organisations with a view to enabling them to build the country for the good of all citizens.
Meanwhile, the senator representing Borno North, Senator Ali Ndume, said yesterday that all his efforts at proving his innocence and that he had no association with members of the Boko Haram Islamic sect is being frustrated by the Nigerian press because the media had already convicted him of the offence before the court of public opinion.
The lawmaker, who is currently facing trial over allegation of links with members of the sect said: “I was already convicted by the press initially. I’m in court now, so I don’t want to talk too much about it.”
Ndume, who spoke while fielding questions from newsmen yesterday in Abu-ja, accused the Federal Government of chasing shadows in its drive to crush the insurgents. He said government has failed to go after the real sponsor of Boko Haram and that is why it has not been possible to crack the activities of the sect.
He said: “If I was Boko Haram truly, I wouldn’t have been arrested. After me, did they arrest anybody, any high ranking Nigerian related to Boko Haram? “Even if it is true that I am related to Boko Haram, do you think that these operations that these insurgents are carrying out is single-handedly sponsored by Ndume?”
The lawmaker also blamed journalists for being responsible for the many woes of this country. He accused the media of turning the truth upside down because they often write fiction in place of the truth. According to the lawmaker, “I feel the Nigerian press is part of the big problem of this country; because instead of writing news, people write fiction. “Most of the things that you read in the paper today or hear are fiction.
They write what they don’t know; people write without investigating.” The lawmaker who described himself as one of the victims of unfair press noted that what has kept him going is his religion and strong belief in God.
He said: “I have been one of those that they have been most unfair to. What is keeping me strong is my religion and my belief in God that if you do to me what I didn’t do, God will not forgive you. “Why should you go and write something about somebody when you know it is libelous?
You know what I went through. “People just wrote anything. They wrote that Ali Ndume is a sponsor of Boko Haram. I don’t have a credit card, I don’t have an account besides the one I have in National Assembly; I don’t even have an ATM. That is how I operate.”
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