At least 220,000 residents of the
north-east have reportedly been abandoned as a result of a new strategy the
military adopted in the war against Boko Haram.
Reuters is reporting that the
strategy tagged: “Super Camps”, has also made humanitarian agencies unable to
reach an estimated 100,000 residents.
The Nigerian military recently
set up about 20 super camps to curtail the activities of the insurgents across
the north-east.
But Reuters quoted sources at an
international aid organisation as well as security officials as saying the
insurgents have taken advantage of the soldiers’ withdrawal to torment
residents.
The report said the the army’s
withdrawal “coincided with a string of insurgent raids on newly unprotected
towns and has left the militants free to set up checkpoints on roads as they
roam more freely across the countryside.”
‘NO ACCESS FOR HUMANITARIAN
AGENCIES’
The situation has been described
as “a mess and a disaster for humanitarian actors.”
The news agency quoted security
sources as saying soldiers no longer protect some key roads, “cutting off
access for humanitarians workers as more of the region falls under the sway of
the insurgents.”
“The military departures so far
have cut off more than 100,000 people from aid and if more soldiers go, as many
as 121,000 other civilians could flee their towns,” one of the relief agencies
reportedly said in its briefing note.
“The population of towns being
abandoned by the military is a combined 223,000 people.”
While announcing the new
strategy, Tukur Buratai, chief of army staff, had said it entails the
“concentration of formidable fighting force in strongholds that have the
capacity for swift mobility.”
But a lot of Nigerians including
Babagana Zulum, governor of Borno state, blamed fresh attacks on the new
strategy.
TheCable reached out to Sagir
Musa, army spokesman, to respond to the report, but he had not done so as of
the time this report was filed.
Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com