It was another bloody day in Bama, Borno State yesterday. Boko Haram members launched suicide attacks, killing many residents. Some soldiers were injured.
During the fresh Bama attack on Wednesday morning, 47 people lost their lives.
The attackers were said to have also
torched the palace of the Shehu of Bama, Alhaji Kyari Elkanemi, the LGA
headquarters, and nearly all other key public buildings in the town.
Elkanemi’s whereabouts were unknown as of 9pm on Wednesday.
The attackers were however more daring
in the Buratai incident on Tuesday evening as they stormed the
private and family homes of the Commander of the Joint Task Force in
the Niger Delta, Maj. Gen. Tukur Buratai.
One person was said to have been killed in Buratai’s family house and a soldier in his private residence in the village.
The Bama attack occurred barely a few
hours after the Chief of Army Staff, Maj.Gen Kenneth Minimah, and the
Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Adesola Amosu, visited the community
which had been attacked several times by the insurgents.
They also took place barely three days
after 146 people lost their lives during a raid on Izghe, a largely
Christian community in Borno State.
The state police commissioner, Lawal Tanko, who confirmed the death toll to Reuters, however did not provide further details about the latest attack.
Tanko said, ‘’Every landmark building,
the Local government secretariat, the state lowcost housing estate,
schools and several other buildings, as well as a part of the
Shehu’s palace were destroyed.
“As of the last time I spoke to my DPO
in Bama, we had 47 dead casualties recorded, while several number of
persons were confirmed injured. Some are already in hospitals there. I
have instructed my men to liaise with the hospitals if we can have the
actual figure of the dead.’’
A survivor of the attack told Agence France Presse that assailants drove into the town in heavy trucks through a secondary school.
He said, “We realised that they were in
hundreds carrying sophisticated weapons. So we had to run as the
soldiers on guard also took to their heels.”
The survivor, who said that he escaped
to Maiduguri on foot, added that his other colleagues ran into a nearby
Bama General Hospital before fleeing into the bush.
He added, “The attackers set everywhere ablaze using Improvised Explosive Devices as they moved.
“As we ran, we kept seeing burnt houses, dead bodies and injured persons.”
The Senator representing Borno Central, Ahmed Zannah, told the British Broadcasting Corporation Hausa Service that several persons were killed in the attack.
He also said that many properties were destroyed in the town.
Someone that called in from Bama during the BBC programme, claimed that among those killed were five prominent persons from the town.
The anonymous caller said, “I can tell
you that several persons were killed. The hoodlums went from one house
to the other, killing people at will. They went about burning shops and
shooting severely into the air.”
A military source told one of our
correspondents that four suicide bombers, who were among the
insurgents, attacked a tank belonging to the Special Forces in Bama
but ended up blowing up themselves to pieces.
He added that a soldier, who was operating the tank, lost his life when he was hit by a shrapnel.
The source said, “The attackers came this time with suicide bombers. Four of the bombers died during the operation.
“They tried to climb one of the tanks
of the Nigerian Army and succeeded in dislodging it but they all died.
Their bodies were strewn with bombs.”
It was learnt that the Boko Haram
insurgents, on arrival in Bama around 4am on Wednesday, first
crippled a telecommunication mast belonging to Airtel, before invading
and torching the Emir’s palace and public buildings.
Another military source told one of
our correspondents that by the time the militants left the community,
the only public buildings left standing were those in the Senior Boys
Science College and the College of Education.
He said, “These people went to Bama
again. They commenced the operation around 4am. They cut off
telecommunication services in the town by successfully crippling Airtel
Mast in the town.
“This time, they burnt all the major
buildings in the town except those in the Senior Boys Science College
and the College of Education.
“They burnt the palace of the Emir, and all other important places in the town.”
The Director of Defence Information,
Maj.-Gen. Chris Olukolade, who also confirmed it, said that soldiers
had taken control of the town.
He said, “Bama came under attack;
eventually it was repelled; the troops repelled the attack and they have
asserted control over the town.
“We are doing cordon and search both to apprehend the fleeing insurgents and to determine the casualty figure in the attack.”
When contacted, the Director, Army
Public Relations, Brig.-Gen Olajide Laleye, said, “I can confirm to you
that there was an attack at Bama this morning (Wednesday).
He said that soldiers killed a large number of the insurgents during the attack.
“The insurgents were killed enmasse. It
was one of the greatest victories that we have had since the operation
started,” Laleye added.
Laleye,who stated that Minimah and
Amosu were still on a tour of military formations in Borno, Adamawa and
Yobe states, denied that a Nigerian Army tank was destroyed by the
insurgents.
Boko Haram members had attacked and
burnt a part of the the Military Barracks in Bama in December 2013.
They had killed 55 people in an earlier attack on the same town on May
8, 2013.
The dead included 22 police officers,
14 prison officials, two soldiers and four civilians. Thirteen of the
insurgents also died.
A source in Burutai said that a
carpenter was killed while another resident was injured by the
insurgents in the family home of the JTF boss.
The source, who said the militants
totally razed the general’s family house at about 6pm on Tuesday,
added that they were not successful when they attacked his
personal house.
He said they received some resistance
from the soldiers on guard. He however added that a soldier was killed
in the exchange of gunfire.
Meanwhile, Boko Haram leader, Abubakar
Shekau, has in a new video released on Wednesday, threatened to
attack on oil installations in the Niger Delta.
“You will in coming days see your refinery bombed,” Shekau warned in the 28-minute video obtained by the AFP.
“Niger Delta, you are in trouble,” he warned in Hausa.
The video was shot in an open field,
where Shekau was surrounded by an armoured tank, two military vans and
about a dozen gun-bearing soldiers.
In the video, Shekau, who admitted
killing an Islamic cleric, Adam Albani, in Zaria about two weeks ago,
also threatened to kill other Muslim and political figures, including
the Shehu of Borno, and the Emir of Kano, Ado Bayero.
“The reason why I will kill you is that
you are infidels. You follow democracy. Whoever follows democracy is an
infidel. This is Shekau. This is why I am in enmity with you,” he said,
his comments interspersed with gunshots fired in the air by him and his
aides.
Bayero was attacked by suspected Islamists last year.
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Naija na wa oh! we are gradually but steadily moving into a state of complete anarchy. God help us!
ReplyDeleteIt is understandable if the soldiers had t flee in the face of superior weapons and numbers. But why give us incredible stories. The accounts from eye withnesses said almost everything structure in the town was damaged. It would have taken a long time to acheive this, does it mean the army does not have a re-enforcement or back-up force on ground? It it no longer new that the Boko-haram use better weapons, what is the government doing about this? Cant the army be provided with better weapons amd their numbers increased? Can the government not see this as a total war and deploy troops to the region enmasse? From this particular story it can be safely deduced that the insurgents were never engaged in combat by the army. Most of the time we see dead bodies of innocent people on the streets, but we rarely see the bodies of Boko haram member that the army usually claim they have killed in large number. We are not fools. The government and the army have failed the innocent and defenceless people in that region, they should not make it worse by tellimg us lies. Only God can deliver us. We have a government that only cares about what more can be stuffed into their already bulging pockets. My candid advice for people in that region is to move to the capital or much safer states, because on this particular issue, the government is clueless and beaten. God bless Nigeria.
ReplyDeleteThey should come to Niger Delta but I swear they won't go back alive. Idiots!
ReplyDeleteAm enjoyin,ur write up,but pls confirn b4 publish. Izge town is not largely christain community.be guided
ReplyDeleteMr.Gbenga God bless u. I like Nigerian like u who are very objective in their analysis & state of mind.
ReplyDeleteSo this is how to end the terrorist insurgency in 3 months ehh? Shame on the NA & their corrupt leaders. Even the Ethiopian Army had better results against the Alshabab Terrorists. Maybe we should hire them as mercineries to get the job done. GEJ & his band of thieves should be shoved aside!
ReplyDeleteMilitants go provoke oh. You no say na dem know de paro as per weapons levuls na. Make dem play reash delta na. Levuls dey na.
ReplyDelete