CDS Alex Bardeh’s town under Boko Haram Siege!

 

             The security situaton in Adamawa, to say the least, is scary, going by the effrontery of Boko Haram insurgents who are bent on overrunning more towns in the North-eastern state.

The terrorists’ battle for the soul of Adamawa started last week. They are even determined to capture more towns. By Monday, the convoy of the General

Officer Commanding (GOC), 3 Division of the Army, Jos, Plateau State, Major-Gen. J.S. Zaruwa, was attacked by the Islamist sect. At least, 24 soldiers were killed. The son of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Lt-Col. Adeboye Obasanjo, an Army engineer, was shot and wounded.

Lt.-Col. Agwu of the 234 Battalion, Gen. Zaruwa and the Brigade Commander, Col. Ebhaleme, were also attacked when the convoy was advancing towards Michika.

But the military is responding to the attacks with the deployment of fighter jets and helicopter gunships. The soldiers have since recaptured Mararaba and also Uba, a boundary town between Adamawa and Borno states.

A source said: “They have taken Uba and Gulak. Soldiers from Borno and Adamawa states were involved in the operation in Uba. As we are talking now, the soldiers are taking on the insurgents in Mararaba which is between Michika and Mubi. The soldiers have blocked most of their (Boko Haram’s) routes to Cameroon while the Air Force is carrying out aerial bombardment.”

By yesterday, the situation has deteriorated in Adamawa. Mubi, the commercial nerve centre of the state and said to be the hometown of the Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Alex Bardeh, is on the verge of being captured by Boko Haram.

The residents are petrified, some are fleeing into Yola, the state capital, which is being fortified by the military. The Emir of Mubi, Alhaji Abubakar Isa Ahmadu, has fled, on account of security advice.

With the siege on Gulak, Michika, Bazza and its environs, many residents of Mubi have deserted the town. Several people have crossed over to  the neighbouring Cameroun, for safety, while a number of parents have withdrawn their wards from school for safety.

Two students of the Adamawa State University, Mubi and some residents said: “We first heard the insurgents’ attacks on Michika and Gulak like a rumour. We soon learnt that it was no longer a rumour,” said a student, who simply identified himself as Stephen.

Another student said: “The situation is pathetic. It was not quite long when we lost our colleagues to a similar incident. We couldn’t sleep, due to the heavy gunshots in the night and for now, no one could say the exact situation.

“They kept shouting, Allahu Akbar. People are now living in an atmosphere of despair and agony, even our Emir, His Royal Highness, has left in the night,’’ said a resident who doesn’t want to be named.

However, palace sources told Daily Sun on condition of anonymity that the emir sneaked out following security reports that the insurgents were advancing towards Mubi that was flooded by refugees.

“His Highness had earlier declined to leave the town, but security personnel mounted pressure on him, hence, the reasons for the paramount ruler to travel out,’’ said the source.

An escapee resident taking refugee on the hills disclosed in a telephone interview, that many residents are now trapped in Michika, Bazza and Shuwa.

“We are in trouble now, many are trapped some could not get out of their homes. These people are all everywhere, hoisting their flags on bikes, brandishing their guns,’’ said another fleeing resident.

Meanwhile, the Acting Inspector-General of Police (IGP, Suleiman Abba, said yesterday that 20 policemen were still missing following the attack on the training camp of the Nigeria Police Mobile Force (PMF), Gwoza, Borno State last month.

He ‎said the good news is that most of them have been traced to their bases and others to their families and the process of re-integrating them back to their units has begun. The camp was attacked on August 25 with 35 policemen reportedly missing while the search and rescue party launched, according to  police spokesman,  Emmanuel Ojukwu, located and brought back all police officers in the training camp.

Abba told State House correspondents after a closed-door meeting with Vice President Namadi Sambo ‎yesterday that the police will not relent until all the missing persons are united with their families.

‎He said: “Well, I must tell you that the turn-out of those missing is still impressive because we have been able to trace some of the officers, who have reported either back to their bases or their families. When you go through what they went through, the likelihood of you knowing what to do is not very tenable. There is a possibility that the decision of what to do may not be easily comprehensible. So, some went back to their homes, but our concern is that once they are safe, we are satisfied and the process of bringing them back to their units has already commenced”.

On number of those still missing, “I must tell you is just less than 20, but we are still concerned about every one of them and unless we are able to account for each and everyone of them,‎ we will not relent in the efforts of tracing them,” he said.


SunNewsOnline