Bomb Blast Kills 5 Soldiers, 35 Civilians In Mubi

About five soldiers and 35 other civilians were feared killed in a busy junction at Marrabar Mubi, about 18 kilometres from Mubi town when a bomb planted by the roadside went off, local sources say.

CALCUFAST recalls that Mubi was recently recaptured by Nigerian troops and local hunters.

Reports from the area indicate that the incident happened at about 7pm when a detachment of Nigerian troops and local hunters were conducting routine supervision of the areas. Five local hunters in the convoy reportedly sustained injuries and were taken to Adamawa Specialist Hospital where they were treated and discharged.

Military sources who confirmed the incident and said only five soldiers were killed while dozens of others sustained various degrees of injuries.

A resident of Mubi who does not want his name mentioned said he heard a loud bang as the military convoy was moving around to conduct routine surveillance, causing panic as residents feared that the insurgents were raiding the town again.

“The loud bang we heard sparked apprehension as many thought that Boko Haram insurgents had launched another offensive against the Nigerian troops and local hunters who are now in control of the town.

“Many people hurriedly ran to their homes while others who were anxious ran into nearby bushes for fear of being hit by bullets or trapped by the insurgents,” he said.

A witness, Abubakar Adamu, a mechanic who narrowly escaped death in the blast, said the explosion set several buses ablaze at the area.

“There were bodies everywhere on the ground,” Adamu said.

As a result of the development, security operatives have modified the existing curfew in the recaptured towns of Hong, Gombi and Mubi.

Curfew now from 6pm to 6am

As the gale of annexation of towns by Boko Haram insurgents intensified, the Adamawa State government reviewed the curfew to 9pm -5am. It was formerly 11pm-5am.

But with the latest bomb attack, the curfew has been further modified to take effect from 6pm to 6am, according to security sources, who explained that the move was to prevent the escalation of bomb detonations.

“The curfew has been adjusted to commence between 6pm to 6am till normalcy returns to the troubled areas,” a military source disclosed.

In the wake of the roadside bomb detonation, the military reportedly intensified its stop-and-search operations as they mounted many road blocks in order to fish out remnants of Boko Haram insurgents and to prevent movement of weapons in the town.

The roadside bomb incidence in Mubi happened less than 24 hours after the blockade of the Federal Highway linking Mubi was lifted as a result of which security operatives modified the curfew imposed on the areas affected by the insurgency.

CALCUFAST  recalls that on Tuesday, two female suicide bombers killed at least 45 people at Monday Market, Maiduguri, the Borno State capital.

Every attempt made to get the reaction of the military on the explosion did not yield fruit as neither the director of Information, Defence Headquarters, Major General Chris Olukolade nor the spokesman of the Army, Brigadier General Olajide Laleye could be reached through their phones, while the sms sent to them were neither acknowledged nor replied to.

NASS Blockade: APC Demands Removal Of Inspector-General of Police

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has called for the immediate removal of the Inspector-General of Police Suleiman Abba for being partisan in the discharge of his duties and for telling lies to cover up the real reasons the police invaded the National Assembly last week.

The police had last week occupied the National Assembly and tried to stop the Speaker of the House of Representatives and other lawmakers from gaining access to the chamber.

In a statement issued in Osogbo yesterday by its national publicity secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party also berated the police boss for daring to say he does not recognize Tambuwal as the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

The party said by refusing to recognize a Speaker who was duly elected by members of the House of Representatives, and a Speaker who has neither been impeached by those who elected him nor removed by the court, the police boss has shown disdain for the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

The party said Nigerians are very much aware that Abba, by himself, could not have acted the way he has done, adding: ‘’But the truth is that he is dancing to a drum of perfidy being beaten by his masters at the Aso Rock Villa. In the process, he has acted in contravention of his oath of office.’’

It said even though Nigerians are aware that the IG acted at the behest of his masters in trying to unlawfully remove a duly elected Speaker, he still went ahead to engage in cheap lies by saying he barred the Speaker and other members of the House from entering the National Assembly because Governor Chibuike Amaechi and the APC were planning to invade the Assembly as well as the Aso Rock and the Police Headquarters.

‘’Shortly after the incident, police spokesman Emmanuel Ojukwu said the police acted the way it did because it got intelligence report that ‘’hoodlums and thugs’’ were coming to invade the House. Now, the police boss said it was because Governor Amaechi and the APC were coming to invade the House; this is a most shameful lie from the highest police officer in the land, and it is a terrible dent on the image of the police under Mr Abba.

The party wondered how a man who can lie so shamefacedly to cover up an egregious act will preside over the provision of security for the 2015 elections.

‘’Mr Abba is presiding over perhaps the most partisan police force ever in the history of our nation. He has thrown professionalism, neutrality and fairness to the wind and made the police a willing tool in the hands of a frenzied executive. He cannot be trusted to ensure a level playing field for all parties at the next general elections, hence he should be removed immediately,’’ APC said.

The party also chided the police boss for refusing to recognise Tambuwal as the Speaker of the House.

It said: ‘’As the Speaker, Tambuwal is the symbol of authority of the House and our country’s number four citizen. By saying he does not recognize him as the Speaker, the IG has also indicated he does not recognize the entire House of Representatives. For a man who was not elected by anybody to make this impertinent assertion about elected representatives of the people, it is tantamount to treason. Mr Abba has shorn all pretences to neutrality, professionalism and decency and he is no longer fit to occupy the important office of the IG,’’ it said.

APC wondered at what stage the IG realized the issue involving the Speaker was sub judice, especially after he constituted himself into a court of law – which is the only body that is constitutionally empowered to make any pronouncement on the fate of the Speaker – and unilaterally withdrew the Speaker’s security detail.

“One wonders why the police was so concerned about the security of the National Assembly that it engaged in selective granting of passage to the principal officers of the Assembly. The Senate President was allowed to enter without qualms, just like the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives. But when the Speaker came, he was locked out. That speaks volumes about the intention of the police,’’ APC said.

The party commended the individuals and groups that have condemned the police action, but reminded them that there is still much work to be done to prevent the president, acting with a highly-partisan police and other security agencies, from crashing the country’s hard-earned democracy on the altar of inordinate political ambition.

Terrorism, Cause Of Hardship In The Sub-region – Gusau

The minister of defence, Lt.-Gen. Muhammed Aliyu Gusau has attributed the underdevelopment and hardship in the Lake Chad Basin sub-region to the menace of terrorism orchestrated by the outlawed Boko Haram sect.

Gusau made this assertion at the just concluded the 4th Meeting of the Ministers of Defence, Chiefs of Defence Staff and Heads of Security/ Intelligence of the Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC) member countries and Republic of Benin held from November 24-26, 2014 at the Nigerian Air Force Conference Centre Abuja, Nigeria.

The meeting was organized as a follow-up action to previous meetings held on security challenges facing countries in the LCBC over the past few months. The theme of this 4th meeting was “Assessment of thse Security Situation and the Joint Measures Taken to Fight Terrorism in the Sub-region”.

According to the communique issued at the end of the meeting which was published on the website of the Defence Headquarters yesterday, the minister who was represented by the Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh, noted that the global security threat had escalated and an extension of this threat had been felt in the region through the dastardly acts of the Boko Haram terrorist group.

He further told the participants that the activities of this sect had led to instability and underdevelopment in member states and had continued to cause untold hardship on the citizens.

He mentioned that the 4th meeting was to enable delegates evaluate the implementation of the tasks that were agreed to in the previous meetings of the LCBC as well as consider recent developments as a result of the Boko Haram aggression.

The executive secretary of the LCBC, Engr. Sanusi Imran Abdulahi, in his remarks, said the meeting was organized to provide another opportunity to finalize plans on collective measures in the ongoing war against terrorism. He requested members to continue to operate within the existing arrangement as best as possible.

Adamawa State Govt Imposes 24 Hour Curfew On Mubi

The Adamawa State government has imposed a 24-hour curfew on the commercial border town of Mubi following the liberation of the town from Boko Haram insurgents.

The director of Public Affairs to Adamawa State governor Mr P. P. Elisha, who made this known, said the decision was a temporary measure to restore sanity in the area.

He called on residents of Mubi to persevere with the government and that as soon as normalcy is restored, the curfew will be reviewed.

The government’s action may not be unconnected to the detonation of a road side bomb which killed five soldiers and injured 35 others.

Civilian-JTF kills 30 Boko Haram members in Kareto village attack

At least 30 Boko Haram militants were yesterday killed by operatives of the Civilian-JTF when the insurgents attempted to attack Kareto village in Mobbar Local Government Area of Borno State, security sources and government officials said.

Kareto, a northern Borno village located not far away from Republic of Niger border, is about 187kiolmetres away from Maiduguri, the state capital.

The insurgents had taken over Abadam, the headquarters of Mobbar on November 24, 2014, after killing scores of persons.

According to sources who witnessed the attack in Kareto, the gunmen arrived at the town in Hilux vehicles and motorcycles, with many armed with AK47 rifles, improvised explosive devices and petrol bombs.

Spokesman of Borno Elders Forum, Bulama Mali Gubio, in an interview with journalists yesterday, said: “There was a huge success as some 30 members of Boko Haram who attempted to overrun Kareto, Gubio and other surrounding communities were killed by our volunteer youths.

“Already the affected areas are now calm as normal activities have since returned, but I want to call on the security authorities to intensify effort to crush the menace of terrorists that have been ravaging the socio- economic activities in Borno and other parts of the North East sub region,” Gubio stated.