Following the declaration of a state of
emergency in Yobe, Borno and Adamawa states, some members of the
fundamentalist Boko Haram sect have started fleeing to neighbouring
Gombe, Bauchi and Jigawa states, SUNDAY PUNCH authoritatively reports.
On Thursday, members of the sect attacked two police stations and four banks in Daura, Katsina State.
It was the first time the sect was carrying out attacks in Katsina.
President Goodluck Jonathan placed the
three states under emergency rule following unabated bloodbath and bomb
attacks which have left hundreds of people and security officials dead.
Security sources confided in our
correspondents on Friday that following the increased pressure by the
military, some of the insurgents have started sneaking out of the
states.
A top military official who pleaded
anonymity because he was not authorised to speak on the matter said,
“All the states are under intense military surveillance and we are
ensuring that no one sneaks out but the insurgents have some secret
routes which we are going to block. They will use these secret routes to
sneak out because of the heat on them. Ordinarily, they will want to
protect their wives, children and the weak among them.”
One of the soldiers deployed in
Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, also told one of our correspondents
that some of the insurgents are fleeing the state to neighbouring ones.
The solider who pleaded anonymity
because of the sensitivity of the matter said, “We have reports that
they are running away to neigbouring states and even neighbouring
countries. We are doing our best to ensure that all escape routes are
blocked.”
According to the soldier, several
residents of Gamboru, Ngala, and Marte, where the sect hoisted its flags
are fleeing the area because of heavy military operation.
A security expert and former State Security Service director, Mr. Mike Ejiojor, told SUNDAY PUNCH that it was possible that members of the Boko Haram sect would attempt to escape to states near Borno, Yobe and Adamawa.
“Preventing them from migrating to
neighbouring states is the essence of the state of emergency in the
three affected states. We hope that it won’t be easy for them to migrate
to other states especially if they have cells there,” he said.
Another security expert, Dr. Ona Ekhomu,
told one of our correspondents that there was a possibility that
members of the sect that had fled the states, could regroup to launch
massive attacks on the states under emergency rule.
Ekhomu, who is the President,
Association of Industrial Security and Safety Operators of Nigeria, said
such a development could lead to having more states on the list of
those under emergency rule.
He said, “They will continue to launch
attacks, it is not without doubt. Don’t forget that apart from the
affected states, other states have some Boko Haram presence, so they may
regroup. The military must ensure that they don’t escape from the
states.
“The military should use a lot of
tactics to freeze the bad guys (Boko Haram). The essence of conducting
the military operation in the North-East is to flush out or capture the
Boko Haram elements. If they get away, then the purpose of the exercise
is defeated.”
He added that members of the sect might
wear military uniforms to disguise as they were becoming more adaptive.
According to him, it would become difficult to differentiate between a
genuine military officer and a Boko Haram member in military uniform.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian Immigration
Service has deported 31,822 illegal immigrants from the country in the
first five months of the year.
The Public Relations Officer of NIS, Mr. Ekpedeme King, told SUNDAY PUNCH,
that the figure represented the total number of immigrants arrested
without proper documentation in different parts of the country.
“According to our records, from January
this year to the first week of May, the Nigerian Immigration Service
arrested and repatriated 31,822 illegal immigrants. I know there is the
temptation to link the number to the security situation in the country
and the Boko Haram insurgency. But this is the total number of illegal
immigrants we have repatriated so far this year, as part of our duties
to ensure that every foreigner in the country has adequate
documentation,” he said.
Findings showed that most of the
deportees were nationals of Niger, Mali and Cameroun, while a small
number from other West African countries like Ghana and Benin Republic.
Minister of Interior, Mr. Abba Moro, who
confirmed this development, said the illegal aliens came into the
country through the many porous border inlets, adding that to fight
terrorism in the country, it was necessary to “throw them out.”
Moro explained that the deportation was
part of the measures adopted by government to check the incursion of
strangers into the nation and to further contain the security threat
posed by Boko Haram.
According to him, it will cost about N500m to provide the manpower and gadgets needed at the borders.
He said, “Manning our international
borders effectively to check illegal entry of persons is almost
impossible in the nation today. We have to admit the fact that we don’t
have enough manpower and equipment to have real control of the
situation.
“And I admit to you that prior to the
present situation we face, it used to be worse. We used to take so many
things for granted until we came to the point of this daring and dire
security challenge.
“Part of the measures to succeed in the
task had led us to getting into partnership with the American government
to procure advanced surveillance equipment for better border security.
The illegal immigrants were sent out of the country by the appropriate
authorities under the ministry.”
In a related development, Amnesty
International has called on security forces to adhere to international
human rights standards and the rule of law.
It said it would continue to document
human rights abuses by the security forces and Boko Haram, and the dire
situation of the people trapped in the middle.
It stated, “We will continue to call on
the Nigeria government to take action to protect the population. Nigeria
must adopt measures that prevent, investigate and prosecute attacks by
Boko Haram, while fully respecting and ensuring human rights in
accordance with Nigeria’s international obligations and commitments.
The
population will not be truly secure until everyone in Nigeria can be
confident not only that the risk of attacks from Boko Haram has been
reduced, but also that they will not face human rights violations at the
hands of the very state security forces mandated with their protection.
“Unfortunately, at the moment in Nigeria
we have a situation where the military are behaving like they are above
the law – like they don’t have to respect the rule of law. So, in some
respects, the issue is not so much which law the military are operating
under, although it is vitally important that the law complies with
international human rights law and standards.”
(Punch)
Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
If Boko Haram members have access to Military Uniform and they use it in disguise it could be dangerous and difficult to know Nigerian Military and Boko Haram.I advise that the Military should change their uniform while combating the Boko Haram.
ReplyDeleteGood advice there, the army should immediately change its camouflage for this purpose to a very different one that will make it impossible for the BH men to acquire.
ReplyDeleteYes let d military dat re in emergency state to change their uniform for dis purposes, so dat B/H n Nigerian Army will different from boko haram
ReplyDeleteIn as much as i agreed to uniform change, this will stand the military out and intelligence might be hampered, if proper preparation was done, all the lope-holes would have been blocked before the declaration of state of emergency and for God sake who is taking orders from whom, when the state Governors are still active in the state. It should be a military affair and the Governors should be quizzed as to why they could arrest situation before now
ReplyDeleteThe military does not take order from the governor in their operations in the emergency state. The military know what To do about the fake uniforms
DeleteMY submission is that the state governor report be excused of his duties till the military finish the clean up, the presence of the state governors in the state amount to parallel heads, since the Military has taken over there should also be a Military commander to act an administrator on the interim until normalcy is achieved and power can be handed back to the concerned governors
ReplyDeleteI support the change of the military uniform, but not only that, let there also be a secret CODE so that the true military can easily identify themselves from the fake ones (the Boko Haram). May GOD protect all the military concern.
ReplyDeleteGood work. Keep hunting them, Hit them hard, they will keep running like wiped dogs. FOOLS! Shey una be strong people, why are you running when confronted? Are you only good in attacking defenseless people? BRAVO! BRAVO!! BRAVO!!! NA
ReplyDeleteYes that is ok but that will not be possible for now then they can change their Boots for easy identification and any that is putting a different one should arrested immediately .
ReplyDelete