President Goodluck Jonathan
•State orders closure of secondary schools, appeals for intervention fund
•EU, Britain, Mark condemn killings as JTF arrests Borno ANPP chairman
•EU, Britain, Mark condemn killings as JTF arrests Borno ANPP chairman
An exasperated President Goodluck Jonathan Sunday had harsh words for
gunmen who killed 32 schoolchildren in Potiskum, Yobe State on Saturday,
saying they will “burn in hell for their horrific act”.
Jonathan, in a reaction to the killing of the boarding schoolchildren
along with a teacher, who were attacked in a dawn raid on their
Government Secondary School, Mamudo, described the incident as wicked,
horrific and barbaric.
The death toll in the attack rose to 32 Sunday, from the initial 29, as
two more students and a local initially injured in the attack died at
the General Hospital, Potiskum, where they were receiving treatment for
injuries sustained during the onslaught.
The European Union (EU), Britain and Senate President David Mark also
condemned the killings, suspected to have been carried out by members of
the outlawed terrorist group, Boko Haram.
The attack on the school in Potiskum occurred about three weeks after
similar attacks on students in Damaturu and Maiduguri and has forced the
Yobe State Government to shut down all secondary schools in the state.
The president, in a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and
Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, condoled with the bereaved families, saying
the act would not deter the federal government from prosecuting its
ongoing war against terror.
Despite the attacks on schoolchildren, who have become the main targets
of Boko Haram insurgency in the wake of the anti-terror war, the
military campaign against the terrorists has helped to reduce their
activities.
No fewer than 40 suspected insurgents were killed at the weekend by men
of the Joint Military Task Force (JTF) in Borno State, Operation
Restore Order, during a raid on their enclaves in Maiduguri.
Also, the embattled Chairman of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) in
Borno State, Alhaji Mala Othman, was arrested at the weekend by men of
the JTF in the state.
Jonathan called gunmen, who target innocent children as a result of an
emotional dysfunction, cowards who would certainly burn in hell.
He said: “The killing is barbaric, completely wicked. Anybody who will
target innocent children for any kind of grief of emotional dysfunction
will certainly go to hell.
“Mr. President wants to assure Nigerians that this kind of desperate Nigerians will be flushed out of the system.
“Mr. President is committed to the protection of lives and property of
all Nigerians and he wants to assure them that the war against
terrorists has been launched and will continue and the Nigerian
government is determined to put an end to this menace.
“The president sympathises with the families affected and he stands by
them at this moment of grief. The killing is most unfortunate most
regrettable and Mr. President wants to assure Nigerians that any attempt
by any group to undermine this government will be resisted.”
In its reaction, the EU Sunday also condemned the “horrific murder by
terrorists” of dozens of people, mostly students, in an attack on a
secondary school.
“I condemn in the strongest possible terms the horrific murder by
terrorists of some 30 innocent children and a teacher early on Saturday
morning in a school in Mamudo town in north-eastern Nigeria,” AFP quoted
the EU diplomatic chief Catherine Ashton as saying in a statement.
Ashton promised Nigerians her “solidarity and determination to help
them bring security, peace and reconciliation to the north”, and called
for those responsible to be brought to justice.
The United Kingdom, reacting to the incident, described it as a particularly appalling act.
In a statement Saturday night, Britain's Foreign Office Minister for
Africa, Mr. Mark Simmons, sent the UK government’s condolences to the
families of the 29 students and those injured.
The statement read: “I offer condolences to the families of those
killed and injured in the attack on a school in Yobe State in Nigeria
today. This savage attack on a place of learning is a particularly
appalling act and I condemn it utterly.
“This senseless atrocity shows yet again that these groups have no
desire to improve the lives and build better and brighter futures for
Nigerians.
“The UK will continue to do what it can to help Nigeria tackle terrorism.”
Mark Sunday also bemoaned the killings of the students and wondered why
children, who even in war situations, are protected, should be the
targets of the gunmen.
“Even in war situations, children and women are protected. Killing
children is akin to cutting down the future of a people. This is
inhuman, barbaric and unacceptable to any right thinking member of the
society.
“For no reason, the lives of these promising children were needlessly
cut down by the heartless people. This cannot be a way of life. Enough
of these bloodshed,” he said in a statement by his Chief Press
Secretary, Paul Mumeh.
He urged the security forces to improve monitoring to halt the trend and bring the perpetrators to justice.
However, as a result of the attack on the school, Yobe State Governor,
Alhaji Ibrahim Gaidam, Sunday ordered the closure of all secondary
schools in the state.
The governor, in a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and
Information, Alhaji Abdullahi Bego, ordered the closure of the schools
from Monday.
The statement, which was issued after the governor returned from a
visit to the attacked school, said: “The measure is to allow government
in collaboration with the military task force and community leaders to
evaluate and evolve better and additional strategies that would ensure
the safety of and security of students and their teachers.”
The Commissioner for Education, Alhaji Mohammed Lamin, during the
governor’s visit to the school, told him that two students and a
resident of Mamudo, who were receiving treatment for injuries sustained
in the attack, had died, thereby increasing the death toll to 32.
He said: “The armed hoodlums had after the Saturday dawn attacks on
this school, traced and killed a resident of Mamudo in his bed, raising
the death toll to 32.”
On how the students were killed, he said: “The armed hoodlums assembled
the students before shooting them from different directions, while the
students scrambled for safety for half an hour in the morning.”
Gaidam, who was visibly touched by the killings, described it as
inhumane, stressing that God would expose the perpetrators and sponsors
of the dastardly acts.
He called on the security forces to change their modus operandi of
checking the activities of the dreaded Islamist sect, so as to end the
incessant attacks and killing of innocent people.
He also called on the Chief of Defence Staff, Admiral Ola Sa’ad
Ibrahim, and the security forces to, as a matter of urgency, consider
the restoration of mobile telephone services in the three states under
state of emergency; as residents were finding it difficult to report
perpetrators of the acts to security agencies.
The governor said residents were at the moment willing to give security
agents relevant and timely information, but reaching the JTF had become
impossible.
According to him, in the two separate attacks on schools in the state,
residents saw the hoodlums at the suburbs of Damaturu, the state
capital, but the JTF could not be reached because mobile telephone
services had been disconnected.
The state government has also appealed to the federal government to
float an intervention fund to cushion the effects of the Boko Haram
insurgency in the affected states.
Bego made the appeal in an interview Sunday in Damaturu, the state capital.
He said while the Yobe State Government was totally in support of the
declaration of emergency rule in the state, it would also like the
federal government to set up a fund to assist people affected by the
insurgency, reported the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
According to him, the state had spent about N4 billion since the
insurgency started, describing it as a big drain on its meagre
resources.
In addition, the state has also disbursed about N197 million to victims
of the insurgency as relief for their losses and also rehabilitated 300
classrooms destroyed by the insurgents.
Meanwhile, NAN reported Sunday that the JTF had arrested the ANPP chairman in Borno State.
The ANPP chairman’s residence was razed last week by some members of a
youth vigilante group, who have taken it upon themselves to flush out
the menace of Boko Haram from the state.
The youths, who after several unsuccessful attempts to get the chairman
of the ruling party in Borno State arrested over allegations of gun
running and sponsorship of terrorist acts, took the law into their hands
and burnt his residence.
The task force through its spokesman, Lt. Col. Sagir Musa, confirmed to
journalists when contacted that the JTF “has arrested the Chairman of
ANPP in Borno State, Alhaji Mala Othman. He is in JTF's custody
undergoing interrogation.
“Investigation is ongoing and the press will be briefed accordingly at the end on the investigation.”
The arrest of Othman occurred just as the task force successfully
dislodged members of the sect from their strongholds of Bulabulin, Bayan
Quarters and Nganaram.
Prior to the invasion of the strongholds, they had been deserted, as
members of the sect had chased out the residents and fortified the areas
making them impregnable to the military.
But the military took a giant step at the weekend when it launched
attacks on the areas and killed an undisclosed number of suspected
members of the sect and recovered several arms and ammunition.
In a statement Sunday, the JTF said: “In an effort to wipe out Boko
Haram terrorists from the deserted Bulabulin, Bayan Quarters and
Nganaram areas of Maiduguri metropolis, it has taken over the areas with
the massive deployment of personnel and equipment to the general areas.
“The latest efforts of the task force led to the dislodgement of the
insurgents and the recovery of arms, ammunition, IED materials and some
terrorists died during an exchange of fire with the JTF troops.”
Musa also revealed that though the clampdown on the areas was still in
progress Sunday, on Saturday alone, the troops recovered four AK47
rifles, a submarine gun, six rocket propelled grenade (RPG) bombs, seven
empty magazines, four RPG launchers, three army camouflage uniforms,
and two tricycles from some terrorists’ hideouts in Bulabulin area.
Though the task force did not give official figure of insurgents that
were killed or captured following the clampdown, residents of Maiduguri
said many corpses were seen deposited at the mortuary of the State
Specialist Hospital in the Borno State capital.
A resident, who did not want to be named, said he was picked up by the
task force and made to sit alongside corpses on Saturday night.
The resident, who gave his testimony at one of the Pentecostal churches
in the troubled town, said he was picked up on Saturday evening by the
JTF at the Post Office area and told to sit among 15 corpses.
He said the soldiers only permitted him to change his position when he started vomiting.
“I praise the Lord for being alive today to give a testimony, many people are dying in this town.
“I was arrested yesterday at the Post Office area and asked to sit
among 15 corpses but when I could not withstand it and started vomiting I
was told to change my seat.
“I was subsequently released when I was able to show an ID and
convinced them that I am a fresh graduate and manage a business of my
own,” he said.
Another resident told reporters that he saw over 40 corpses dumped by the military at the specialist hospital.
In a related development, the task force has started mentoring the
youth vigilante groups on how to go about their cause within the ambit
of the law and refrain from criminal activities.
Musa while commending the youths for their patriotic efforts aimed at
freeing Borno State from the menace of the Boko Haram, in a statement
said interaction had started with the youths.
Musa said during his interaction with some youth leaders of Gwange and
Hausari areas of Maiduguri, he urged them to be mature in their actions.
The vigilante groups Sunday stepped up their efforts to wipe out the
Boko Haram menace in Borno, when 12 members of the outlawed sect were
arrested and handed over to the JTF.
The arrest came after the youths smashed two hideouts of the sect in
Jajeri and Bulumkutu areas of Maiduguri. The youths were said to have
also recovered five rifles from the arrested sect members.
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