The Defence Headquarters has said its
Special Forces are focusing on the new terrorist threats in Borno State
through ongoing land and air patrols in Bama and Gwoza.
The army said available information and
intelligence were being used to trail terrorists that were regrouping
to destabilise the areas, adding that some of them had been apprehended.
Boko Haram insurgents, who were
dislodged from their Sambisa Game Reserve by security forces, had
reportedly dispatched threat letters to residents of Bama and Gwoza a
week earlier, warning of bloodbath in seven days and forcing them to
flee their homes.
The sect had in the letters said to be
written in Kanuri and Hausa languages, warned residents of the towns,
who are mainly civil servants, to resign their jobs and burn their
employment documents or risk being consumed by the impending war.
Some of the Boko Haram insurgents, who
were dislodged from their enclaves in northern and central Borno, were
believed to have regrouped on Gwoza hills and in Mandara mountains in
southern Borno.
But the Director, Defence Information,
Brig. Gen. Chris Olukolade, told our correspondent on Sunday that the
special forces would deal with the insurgents, whom he described as
miscreants.
According to him, the troops on the
ground are doing all that is necessary to contain the new threats and
ensure that lives and property are protected.
Asked if there would be fresh
deployment of troops in the troubled areas, Olukolade demurred but
noted that deployment was a continuous exercise that would be done when
the need arose.
He said, “Threats by the group are
being duly addressed by ongoing patrols of the special forces on land
and air. That area is now under a special focus and every available
information is being used to trail any terrorist attempting to team up
for any kind of operation or threat against citizens.”
Meanwhile, men of the Special Task
Force on Friday battled with insurgents, who were planning to attack
some minority villages of Yamini, Karkashi, Shikal and Lokan, on the
fringes of southern Plateau State.
The villagers had sent a distress call
to the task force, complaining that some insurgents, suspected to be
Fulani herdsmen, were camping behind Mango plantation in Wase town and
Sakin Kudu in Taraba State with the intention of attacking them.
They had also fled their communities
for fear of being attacked by these insurgents, who were also said to
have mixed up with some terrorist elements suspected to have camped in
Ibbi on the fringes of Taraba State.
However, following the call, some operatives were said to have been deployed on Friday to dislodge them from the villages.
Executive Director, Stefanos
Foundation, Mr. Mark Lipdo, who raised the alarm, said the insurgents
retreated on sighting the men of the task force.
Lipdo, in a text message to our
correspondent on Sunday, said, “Indiginous minorities around
Karkashi/Yamini of Southern Plateau are full of praises for Special
Task Force as they watch their adversaries fleeing yesterday (Friday
June 21, 2013) on millitary arrival. Sources said people slept well as
only a few fulani now remaining around Shikal and that many are
returning to their homes. Thanks to STF.”
STF Spokesman, Capt. Mustapha confirmed
the development. He however said that nobody was killed, adding that
there were also no arrests.
He said, “Our men were sent to dislodge
them and we are also deploying strategies to ensure that elements of
terrorists do not infiltrate Plateau through that flank”
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