The Federal Government has placed some states in the North on a comprehensive security surveillance following intelligence reports that some members of the Boko Haram Islamic sect may avenge the death of their leader, Abubakar Shekau.
Also, National Mirror learnt last night that the action became necessary to forestall any breach of the peace by hoodlums who might want to perpetrate violent crimes in the name of the sect.
“As I speak to you now, our men have been placed on the alert. Some states considered as flashpoints are also under strict surveillance because we know that some of the fleeing insurgents may want to launch more vicious attacks in order to restate their relevance,” said a senior operative of the State Security Service, SSS, who would not want his name mentioned.
The Joint Task Force, JTF, in Maiduguri had on Monday said that Shekau might have died due to fatal injuries he sustained in a clash with government forces.
Some of the states that are currently under renewed surveillance are those in the North-East and others, including Kano, Sokoto, Kaduna and Niger. Curiously, Kogi also made the list.
There has been no official confirmation of the emergency security measures as the police said such measures would be covert.
Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar, had in an earlier chat with journalists in Abuja stated that those strategies would not be disclosed.
National Mirror, however, learnt that apart from series of ongoing undercover operations involving most of the security agencies, there would also be an increased deployment of troops in the states under focus, “as their presence is likely to deter crime”.
Meanwhile, 13 persons were killed yesterday and eight others injured in separate attacks by suspected members of the terrorist group, Boko Haram, in Borno State.
The attacks took place in Gwoza and Gamboru Ngala Local Government Areas of the state.
In Gwoza, nine people were killed in an encounter between insurgents and the police following an attack launched on the Divisional Police Headquarters in the early hours of the day.
The dead, our correspondent gathered, included two policemen and seven insurgents.
The Emir of Gwoza, Alhaji Idrisa Timta, who visited the Government House, Maiduguri, yesterday to intimate Governor Kashim Shettima of the incident, said: “At about 8a.m. today (yesterday), members of the Boko Haram sect attacked the Gwoza Divisional Police Headquarters, killing two policemen. Seven insurgents also lost their lives in an exchange of gunfire.”
Similarly, at least four civilians were killed while eight others seriously injured when some suspected members of the sect invaded Gamboru Ngala Local Government Area in the early hours.
Gamboru Ngala is a border town with Cameroun, about 135 kilometres away from Maiduguri, the state capital, and had witnessed series of bombings and killings in the recent past.
Our correspondent also gathered that the gunmen, numbering about 50, rode on motorcycles and armed with sophisticated weapons, stormed Flatari ward of the council at about 2a.m. and ordered residents to come out from their houses before they opened fire, which led to the killing of four residents and injuring eight others.
A source said that the gunmen also set ablaze some houses in the town and fled without being arrested.
He explained that the hoodlums were on revenge mission following the recent arrest of one of their members last week by the ‘Civilian JTF’ who was later handed over to the Joint Task Force, JTF, before he was killed.
A resident, who did not want his name mentioned, appealed to the JTF to come to their aid and resume patrol in the area, saying the unarmed vigilance youths alone could not protect the area, “considering the superior nature of the weapons used by the terrorists.”
Owing to lack of communication services for the past three months in the state, the JTF spokesman, Lt.-Col. Sagir Musa, and the Police Public Relations Officer, Gideon Jubrin, could not be reached for confirmation as at press time.
Meanwhile, the Federal Government yesterday said the reported killing of the leader of the sect, Abubakar Shekau, should be a confidence booster for Nigerians in the ability of the security agents to tackle the security challenges in the country.
Responding to the JTF’s claim that Shekau might have died of injuries sustained in a gun duel, Information Minister, Labaran Maku said that government officials had refrained from making comments on the military operations.
Maku, however, explained that the government would continue to allow the military tell the story.
“You will notice that since the President proclaimed the state of emergency three months ago, we have decided that it is better to allow the military tell their story, you will notice that you have not heard me speak of the state of emergency not because we don’t want to, but because we want to remove this security operation from any misunderstanding particularly from politicians like us.
“We have decided that it is important that the military carries out its tasks, tells the public what it is doing, its results and so on.
Maku also commended the media for objectively reporting the security situation in the country.”
He added that Borno State was able to host a durbar for the first time in four years, just like it also took place in Zaria, Kaduna State, recently after two years because of the fear of terrorist attacks.
In another development, the former Director, State Security Service, SSS, Mr. Mike Ejiofor, has described the unsubstantiated reports of the death of Boko Haram’s long-hunted leader, Abubakar Shekau, as ‘worrisome’.
Ejiofor, a security consultant, said of the JTF’s claim: “My first reaction actually is that it is a sign of relief that if you take out the leadership of any group, you are going to cause some confusion in its operations.”
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