Police Commissioner Denies Boko Haram Attack On UNIMAID

The Police Command in Borno on Friday denied reports of suspected Boko Haram insurgents attack on the University of Maiduguri (UNIMAID) campus.

The Commissioner of Police, Alhaji Lawal Tanko, made the denial in an interview in Maiduguri.

The story indicating that the university had been attack is not true.

“What happened was that the insurgents passed through a river channel behind the university to launch the attack on the barracks”, he said.

Tanko said that the university campus was safe as both students and lecturers had been adequately protected.

He, however, confirmed an attempted attack on the Giwa Barracks, Maiduguri, by suspected members of the sect.

“It is true that there is an ongoing exchange of fire between security agents and some suspected insurgents, but the incident is limited to the barracks area alone”, he said.

Also, Malam Ahmed Mohammed, the Chief Information Officer of the university, who spoke, corroborated the claim of the commissioner.

“The university camp was not attacked, the attackers only used a narrow river side near the campus to carry out their nefarious act.

“Many people assumed that the university was affected because the hostilities took place near the campus”, Mohammed said. (NAN)

ECOWAS Condemns Boko Haram Attacks

The ECOWAS Commission on Monday condemned the “unprovoked attack by a terrorism armed group on a Federal Government College in Yobe’’.

The attack resulted in the deaths of several innocent students in the early hours of Feb. 25.

The condemnation is contained in a statement issued in Abuja by the commission’s Acting Director of Communication, Mr Sunny Ugoh.

The statement said that on behalf of the ECOWAS institutions, the President of the Commission, Mr Désiré Ouédraogo, expressed his heartfelt condolences to President Goodluck Jonathan.

It said that Ouédraogo also expressed condolences to the bereaved families.

“The Yobe attack added to the growing number of needless terrorist onslaughts that have claimed hundreds of lives in Nigeria in the recent past,” it quoted Ouédraogo as saying.

It also reported Ouédraogo as promising the support of ECOWAS Commission to the people of Nigeria in their moment of grief.

The statement also said the commission supported Nigeria in its efforts to rid the country and the region of terrorism.

“The latest terrorist attack is a wake-up call, not just on the Nigerian authorities, but on every of the member states and all community citizens to remain vigilant.

“The commission reaffirms its commitment and determination to collaborate with all member states and other partners to make the region terror-free”, it said. [NAN]

UNBELIEVABLE: SEE Who FG Are Recruiting To Help JTF Fight Boko Haram

 * A file photo of the JTF

Many of the insurgents are believed to use routes cutting through forests in states like Borno, Yobe, Taraba and Adamawa to smuggle arms into the country from Cameroun and a number of neighbouring countries.

The Conservator-General of National Park Service, Mr. Haruna Abubakar, told the House of Representatives Committee on Environment on Monday that the guards would help the JTF to comb the forests for hideouts of insurgents.

Abubakar had appeared before the committee in Abuja to defend the 2014 budget of the agency.

The NPS had been classified as a para-military agency in January this year by government.

According to Abubakar, the agency will rely on its knowledge of the country’s forest terrain to conduct security sweeps with the military.

He informed the committee that the agency controlled seven national parks in the country, covering about 24,000 square kilometres of land.

Abubakar said, “The National Park Service has been playing a crucial role in intelligence gathering for the country’s military in the North-East and the forest bordering Chad and Cameroun.”

The committee, which is chaired by Mrs. Uche Ekwunife, heard that insurgents operated camps in forests like Sambisa, Mafa, Wulgo and Kirenowa, all in Borno State.

Sambisa forest camp, said to have been first discovered during a military raid in 2013, covers an area of about 300 square kilometres.

The forest extends up to Damboa, Gwoza, Bama and the Cameroon border, where insurgents have attacked villagers lately.

The chairman of the committee expressed concern that besides the loss of human lives and property, Nigeria was losing revenue from tourism due to the activities of insurgents.

She observed that tourists avoided the forests and major parks like the Gashaka Gumti National Park for fear of being attacked by insurgents.

“We have to look inwards to find a way to protect our forests.

“It is regrettable that our forests have been turned into havens for insurgents,” she said. 

Boko Haram Kills More People In Fresh Attack In Adamawa

Dozens of residents in northeastern Nigeria have been killed in two separate attacks launched by Boko Haram Islamists, according to officials and residents.

Scored of Islamist insurgents dressed in military uniforms stormed the Christian farming village of Izghe, in Borno state, late Saturday and opened sporadic fire on residents, killing at least 106 people in an attack specifically targeted at male residents.

The gunmen, who arrived in the village riding in trucks and on several motorcycles, opened fire and hacked male residents they had assembled in the village square. They moved door to door in search of male residents who were hiding.

The attack prompted an exodus of hundreds of panic-stricken residents of nearby villages to the neighboring Madagali district in Adamawa state.

"We suspect that the gunmen were members of Boko Haram. They have taken over the village," said Madagali local government chairman, Maina Ularamu..

The attackers looted businesses and food stores "and loaded all their spoils into vehicles owned by residents and fled into the bush," said Ularamu.

A survivor of the attack, farmer Barnabas Idi, said he scaled the fence of his house and crawled for about 40 minutes to safety. Idi said that security agents were not present during the attack.

In the second attack early Saturday, suspected Boko Haram gunmen opened fire on Doron Baga, a fishing village along Lake Chad.

"They opened fire from all directions, forcing residents to jump into the lake in a bid to escape, and many drowned while others were gunned down," said Babagana Gwoni, a survivor of the attack.

The gunmen looted fish and foodstuffs before setting houses on fire, Gwoni said.

Lt. Col. Mohammed Dole, a military spokesman, confirmed the Doron Baga attack but declined to give details.

"We received report of the attack on Doron Baga, but we don't have details because the area falls under the operational jurisdiction of the Multinational Joint Task Force," Dole said.

The Multinational Joint task Force comprises troops from Nigeria, Niger and Chad and was set up in 1998 primarily to fight light weapons proliferation. Its mandate has been expanded to include combating the Boko Haram insurgency.