By NDAHI MARAMA, KINGSLEY OMONOBI
& CALEB AYANSINA
Maiduguri— SOME survivors and
residents of Maiduguri, Borno State capital, yesterday, recounted their
experience and narrow escape from death, when about 300 Boko Haram insurgents
armed with sophisticated weapons invaded the state capital targeting military
formations and police stations, Monday.
Narrating his ordeal, Mallam Yakubu
Gashua, who resides few metres away from the destroyed 79 Composite Group,
Nigerian Air force Base, NAF, said: “I thought my days on earth was over on
that day.
“My wife and I were in bed and all
of a sudden, I started hearing heavy sounds of gunshots, as if it was in my
compound. We immediately woke up and started reciting some protective verses in
the Quran.
“The gunshots became more intense
with ceaseless explosions all over the place.
“At a point I told my wife and my
uncle, who came from Gashua for a visit, that our days have ended.
*Wreckage of truck burnt in front of
the Gomari Police Divisional Office which was completely razed
“I said, who is going to take care
of my two little children who are still writing their exams in a boarding
school in Damaturu, the Yobe state capital? But thank Allah for sparing all of
us.”
A neighbour of the two slain
brothers that lived opposite the NAF main gate, which was the first port of
call of the terrorists, said that the attackers, who arrived the base around 4am,
called for Subhi prayers in a nearby mosque before they started chanting Allahu
Akbar (God is Great).
“The terrorists entered the compound
and saw a Toyota hilux loaded with bags of beans, and they asked my deceased
neighbour to provide the keys of the loaded vehicle to them.
“When he said the keys were with the
driver somewhere else, they immediately opened fire on him. His brother was
ambushed at his patent medicine store around 7am a few metres away from the NAF
main gate and was killed.”
Another resident close to the NAF
base said: “When I heard a strange voice close to our mosque, I asked myself
who are these people calling for Subhi prayers?
“I peeped outside just to see what
was happening, and when I discovered that the voice is a strange one, I quickly
went back home.
“Later, we went to the mosque and
performed our prayers with my deceased neighbours who were killed after the
prayers.”
‘We hid in a septic tank’
Narrating how his two neighbours
were killed in their house, he said: “We didn’t know that the terrorists were
the ones calling for the Subhi prayers.
“We performed our pre-dawn prayers
successfully and as we were about to enter our house, we started hearing the
sounds of gunfire, explosives and bombs inside the NAF premises.
“The sound of the explosives was
even shaking our houses, which now have cracks after the multiple explosions
inside the NAF Base.
“In fact, I had to quickly hide
myself with my wife and two of my little children inside an abandoned soak-away
toilet in the compound for over two hours.”
Mallam Abba Usman, who resides in
Mwaramti village, opposite the 33 Artillery Regiments, which was not left out
of the devastating attacks, said: “The terrorists were very active and brave,
as they stopped and picked dead bodies of their members.”
The attacks took Maiduguri residents
by surprise. The area, which is the epicentre of Boko Haram insurgency had in
the past six months witnessed relative peace following the emergence of
vigilante youths, popularly addressed as Civilian JTF, as well as the
successful destruction of their operational base in Bullabulin Nganaram,
a suburb of Maiduguri.
Intelligence report ignored
Although, unconfirmed reports said
there was an intelligent report made available to the security operatives in
the state that Book Haram terrorists were advancing towards Maiduguri city from
the Sambisa Game Reserve Forests and that if it is true, the attacks will be
deadly, the security agencies allegedly ignored it.
The attacks were said to have been
coordinated and led by two women commanders, leading to the death of several
people including the terrorists and security agents.
Nigerian Air Force Base offices,
staff quarters, club house and five aircraft were completely burnt down.
Residents said what happened in
Maiduguri, a city which had witnessed relative peace for the past six months
calls for serious concern of government and the people of Borno State.
During the attacks, residential
buildings such as semi-detached bedroom flats and offices with staff quarters
newly built by the Borno State Government at the 33 Artillery Regiment base
were completely razed by the terrorists.
The area accommodates hundreds of
JTF operatives and the Divisional Police Station in Gomari Airport Ward of the
metropolis and 50 military vehicles .
Fighter jet intervenes
Vanguard gathered that but for
the intervention of the jet fighter from Yola, Adamawa State capital, the
casualty figures at the NAF base would have been higher.
The jet assisted in dislodging the
terrorists, who fled towards Beneshiekh-Damaturu Federal Highway.
Spokesman of the 7 Division, Colonel
Mohammed Dole confirmed the multiple attacks and killings by the terrorists.
In a press statement, Dole said: “In
the early hours of Monday December 2, Boko Haram terrorists attempted to gain
access to military locations in Maiduguri metropolis.
“However, troops of the 7 Division,
Nigerian Army, have successfully repelled the insurgents and afflicted serious
casualties on them.
“The situation around Jimtilo and
Maiduguri International Airport General areas are now calm and under control.
Our troops supported by Nigerian Air force aircrafts are presently pursuing the
terrorists towards the Maiduguri-Beneshiekh- Damaturu road.
“Members of the general public are
requested to remain calm and comply with the 24 hours curfew imposed by the
Borno State Government. The curfew will be reviewed periodically as the
situation improves.”
In the interview with journalists at
the Government House, Colonel Dole, who did not give further details on the
number of casualties from the side of the military or the terrorists, insisted
that military troops were able to inflict serious casualties on the terrorists.
Sources at the University of
Maiduguri Teaching Hospital said, they saw several dead bodies in military and
police uniforms being conveyed to the mortuary in the morning of the day of the
attacks, but could not know whether they were real security agents, as the
terrorists also used military and police uniforms during attacks.
APC reacts
Meanwhile, All Progressives
Congress, APC, has condemned Monday’s deadly attack on military and other
facilities in Maiduguri, saying it was shocked and saddened by the enormity of
the attack and the death of innocent civilians.
In a statement issued in Abuja,
yesterday, by its Interim National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed,
the party said the attacks on Nigerian Air Force planes and helicopters at the
NAF base in the city was particularly disturbing, considering the hitherto
effective use of aerial attacks against Boko Haram, which is widely believed to
have carried out the attacks.
It said nothing in the world can
justify such deadly attacks on the military and the collateral deaths and
damages inflicted on civilians.
APC, however, called for a renewed
strategy to combat the sect, which seems to retain the capacity to carry out
such a massive attack in a major city, despite the successes which the military
said it had recorded against it since the declaration of a state of emergency
in three states last May.
The party said such a strategy must
place great emphasis on the gathering of intelligence, adding that failure of
intelligence, more than anything else, made Monday’s attack possible.
It called for a probe into how hundreds
of attackers could easily infiltrate military facilities, believed to be highly
secured.
No foreign aid yet— FG
The Minister of Information and
Supervising Minister of Defence, Mr. Labaran Maku, said yesterday that the
Federal Government has not decide on whether to seek the assistance of foreign
combatants in the fight against terrorism as the Nigeria Armed Forces was
capable of handling insurgency in the country.
Maku, who made government’s position
known during a press briefing on the 2014 Armed Forces Remembrance Day
Celebration, in Abuja, categorically said that the Federal Government was not
deterred by the recent attack on the Air Force base in Maiduguri by the
insurgent.
He said: “A lot of cooperation has
been going on, especially at the ECOWAS level.
“Defence chiefs have strategised to
deal with this insurgency. We are working with the international communities.
“The Nigerian Armed Forces are well
equipped, trained and they have professional skills to deal with insurgent.
“Although we need cooperation of
other countries, but to seek foreign combatants to come into our country,
Nigeria has not made that decision.”
The minister also said the recent
declaration of Boko Haram and Ansaru as terrorist groups by the United States
was a further confirmation of what the country had been battling with.
Survivors of Maiduguri attacks tell tales of horror
By NDAHI MARAMA, KINGSLEY OMONOBI & CALEB AYANSINA
Maiduguri— SOME survivors and residents of Maiduguri, Borno State capital, yesterday, recounted their experience and narrow escape from death, when about 300 Boko Haram insurgents armed with sophisticated weapons invaded the state capital targeting military formations and police stations, Monday.
Narrating his ordeal, Mallam Yakubu Gashua, who resides few metres away from the destroyed 79 Composite Group, Nigerian Air force Base, NAF, said: “I thought my days on earth was over on that day.
“My wife and I were in bed and all of a sudden, I started hearing heavy sounds of gunshots, as if it was in my compound. We immediately woke up and started reciting some protective verses in the Quran.
“The gunshots became more intense with ceaseless explosions all over the place.
“At a point I told my wife and my uncle, who came from Gashua for a visit, that our days have ended.
“I
said, who is going to take care of my two little children who are still
writing their exams in a boarding school in Damaturu, the Yobe state
capital? But thank Allah for sparing all of us.”
A neighbour of the two slain brothers that lived opposite the NAF main gate, which was the first port of call of the terrorists, said that the attackers, who arrived the base around 4am, called for Subhi prayers in a nearby mosque before they started chanting Allahu Akbar (God is Great).
“The terrorists entered the compound and saw a Toyota hilux loaded with bags of beans, and they asked my deceased neighbour to provide the keys of the loaded vehicle to them.
“When he said the keys were with the driver somewhere else, they immediately opened fire on him. His brother was ambushed at his patent medicine store around 7am a few metres away from the NAF main gate and was killed.”
Another resident close to the NAF base said: “When I heard a strange voice close to our mosque, I asked myself who are these people calling for Subhi prayers?
“I peeped outside just to see what was happening, and when I discovered that the voice is a strange one, I quickly went back home.
“Later, we went to the mosque and performed our prayers with my deceased neighbours who were killed after the prayers.”
‘We hid in a septic tank’
Narrating how his two neighbours were killed in their house, he said: “We didn’t know that the terrorists were the ones calling for the Subhi prayers.
“We performed our pre-dawn prayers successfully and as we were about to enter our house, we started hearing the sounds of gunfire, explosives and bombs inside the NAF premises.
“The sound of the explosives was even shaking our houses, which now have cracks after the multiple explosions inside the NAF Base.
“In fact, I had to quickly hide myself with my wife and two of my little children inside an abandoned soak-away toilet in the compound for over two hours.”
Mallam Abba Usman, who resides in Mwaramti village, opposite the 33 Artillery Regiments, which was not left out of the devastating attacks, said: “The terrorists were very active and brave, as they stopped and picked dead bodies of their members.”
The attacks took Maiduguri residents by surprise. The area, which is the epicentre of Boko Haram insurgency had in the past six months witnessed relative peace following the emergence of vigilante youths, popularly addressed as Civilian JTF, as well as the successful destruction of their operational base in Bullabulin Nganaram, a suburb of Maiduguri.
Intelligence report ignored
Although, unconfirmed reports said there was an intelligent report made available to the security operatives in the state that Book Haram terrorists were advancing towards Maiduguri city from the Sambisa Game Reserve Forests and that if it is true, the attacks will be deadly, the security agencies allegedly ignored it.
The attacks were said to have been coordinated and led by two women commanders, leading to the death of several people including the terrorists and security agents.
Nigerian Air Force Base offices, staff quarters, club house and five aircraft were completely burnt down.
Residents said what happened in Maiduguri, a city which had witnessed relative peace for the past six months calls for serious concern of government and the people of Borno State.
During the attacks, residential buildings such as semi-detached bedroom flats and offices with staff quarters newly built by the Borno State Government at the 33 Artillery Regiment base were completely razed by the terrorists.
The area accommodates hundreds of JTF operatives and the Divisional Police Station in Gomari Airport Ward of the metropolis and 50 military vehicles .
Fighter jet intervenes
Vanguard gathered that but for the intervention of the jet fighter from Yola, Adamawa State capital, the casualty figures at the NAF base would have been higher.
The jet assisted in dislodging the terrorists, who fled towards Beneshiekh-Damaturu Federal Highway.
Spokesman of the 7 Division, Colonel Mohammed Dole confirmed the multiple attacks and killings by the terrorists.
In a press statement, Dole said: “In the early hours of Monday December 2, Boko Haram terrorists attempted to gain access to military locations in Maiduguri metropolis.
“However, troops of the 7 Division, Nigerian Army, have successfully repelled the insurgents and afflicted serious casualties on them.
“The situation around Jimtilo and Maiduguri International Airport General areas are now calm and under control. Our troops supported by Nigerian Air force aircrafts are presently pursuing the terrorists towards the Maiduguri-Beneshiekh- Damaturu road.
“Members of the general public are requested to remain calm and comply with the 24 hours curfew imposed by the Borno State Government. The curfew will be reviewed periodically as the situation improves.”
In the interview with journalists at the Government House, Colonel Dole, who did not give further details on the number of casualties from the side of the military or the terrorists, insisted that military troops were able to inflict serious casualties on the terrorists.
Sources at the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital said, they saw several dead bodies in military and police uniforms being conveyed to the mortuary in the morning of the day of the attacks, but could not know whether they were real security agents, as the terrorists also used military and police uniforms during attacks.
APC reacts
Meanwhile, All Progressives Congress, APC, has condemned Monday’s deadly attack on military and other facilities in Maiduguri, saying it was shocked and saddened by the enormity of the attack and the death of innocent civilians.
In a statement issued in Abuja, yesterday, by its Interim National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said the attacks on Nigerian Air Force planes and helicopters at the NAF base in the city was particularly disturbing, considering the hitherto effective use of aerial attacks against Boko Haram, which is widely believed to have carried out the attacks.
It said nothing in the world can justify such deadly attacks on the military and the collateral deaths and damages inflicted on civilians.
APC, however, called for a renewed strategy to combat the sect, which seems to retain the capacity to carry out such a massive attack in a major city, despite the successes which the military said it had recorded against it since the declaration of a state of emergency in three states last May.
The party said such a strategy must place great emphasis on the gathering of intelligence, adding that failure of intelligence, more than anything else, made Monday’s attack possible.
It called for a probe into how hundreds of attackers could easily infiltrate military facilities, believed to be highly secured.
No foreign aid yet— FG
The Minister of Information and Supervising Minister of Defence, Mr. Labaran Maku, said yesterday that the Federal Government has not decide on whether to seek the assistance of foreign combatants in the fight against terrorism as the Nigeria Armed Forces was capable of handling insurgency in the country.
Maku, who made government’s position known during a press briefing on the 2014 Armed Forces Remembrance Day Celebration, in Abuja, categorically said that the Federal Government was not deterred by the recent attack on the Air Force base in Maiduguri by the insurgent.
He said: “A lot of cooperation has been going on, especially at the ECOWAS level.
“Defence chiefs have strategised to deal with this insurgency. We are working with the international communities.
“The Nigerian Armed Forces are well equipped, trained and they have professional skills to deal with insurgent.
“Although we need cooperation of other countries, but to seek foreign combatants to come into our country, Nigeria has not made that decision.”
The minister also said the recent declaration of Boko Haram and Ansaru as terrorist groups by the United States was a further confirmation of what the country had been battling with.
Maiduguri— SOME survivors and residents of Maiduguri, Borno State capital, yesterday, recounted their experience and narrow escape from death, when about 300 Boko Haram insurgents armed with sophisticated weapons invaded the state capital targeting military formations and police stations, Monday.
Narrating his ordeal, Mallam Yakubu Gashua, who resides few metres away from the destroyed 79 Composite Group, Nigerian Air force Base, NAF, said: “I thought my days on earth was over on that day.
“My wife and I were in bed and all of a sudden, I started hearing heavy sounds of gunshots, as if it was in my compound. We immediately woke up and started reciting some protective verses in the Quran.
“The gunshots became more intense with ceaseless explosions all over the place.
“At a point I told my wife and my uncle, who came from Gashua for a visit, that our days have ended.
*Wreckage of truck burnt in front of the Gomari Police Divisional Office which was completely razed
A neighbour of the two slain brothers that lived opposite the NAF main gate, which was the first port of call of the terrorists, said that the attackers, who arrived the base around 4am, called for Subhi prayers in a nearby mosque before they started chanting Allahu Akbar (God is Great).
“The terrorists entered the compound and saw a Toyota hilux loaded with bags of beans, and they asked my deceased neighbour to provide the keys of the loaded vehicle to them.
“When he said the keys were with the driver somewhere else, they immediately opened fire on him. His brother was ambushed at his patent medicine store around 7am a few metres away from the NAF main gate and was killed.”
Another resident close to the NAF base said: “When I heard a strange voice close to our mosque, I asked myself who are these people calling for Subhi prayers?
“I peeped outside just to see what was happening, and when I discovered that the voice is a strange one, I quickly went back home.
“Later, we went to the mosque and performed our prayers with my deceased neighbours who were killed after the prayers.”
‘We hid in a septic tank’
Narrating how his two neighbours were killed in their house, he said: “We didn’t know that the terrorists were the ones calling for the Subhi prayers.
“We performed our pre-dawn prayers successfully and as we were about to enter our house, we started hearing the sounds of gunfire, explosives and bombs inside the NAF premises.
“The sound of the explosives was even shaking our houses, which now have cracks after the multiple explosions inside the NAF Base.
“In fact, I had to quickly hide myself with my wife and two of my little children inside an abandoned soak-away toilet in the compound for over two hours.”
Mallam Abba Usman, who resides in Mwaramti village, opposite the 33 Artillery Regiments, which was not left out of the devastating attacks, said: “The terrorists were very active and brave, as they stopped and picked dead bodies of their members.”
The attacks took Maiduguri residents by surprise. The area, which is the epicentre of Boko Haram insurgency had in the past six months witnessed relative peace following the emergence of vigilante youths, popularly addressed as Civilian JTF, as well as the successful destruction of their operational base in Bullabulin Nganaram, a suburb of Maiduguri.
Intelligence report ignored
Although, unconfirmed reports said there was an intelligent report made available to the security operatives in the state that Book Haram terrorists were advancing towards Maiduguri city from the Sambisa Game Reserve Forests and that if it is true, the attacks will be deadly, the security agencies allegedly ignored it.
The attacks were said to have been coordinated and led by two women commanders, leading to the death of several people including the terrorists and security agents.
Nigerian Air Force Base offices, staff quarters, club house and five aircraft were completely burnt down.
Residents said what happened in Maiduguri, a city which had witnessed relative peace for the past six months calls for serious concern of government and the people of Borno State.
During the attacks, residential buildings such as semi-detached bedroom flats and offices with staff quarters newly built by the Borno State Government at the 33 Artillery Regiment base were completely razed by the terrorists.
The area accommodates hundreds of JTF operatives and the Divisional Police Station in Gomari Airport Ward of the metropolis and 50 military vehicles .
Fighter jet intervenes
Vanguard gathered that but for the intervention of the jet fighter from Yola, Adamawa State capital, the casualty figures at the NAF base would have been higher.
The jet assisted in dislodging the terrorists, who fled towards Beneshiekh-Damaturu Federal Highway.
Spokesman of the 7 Division, Colonel Mohammed Dole confirmed the multiple attacks and killings by the terrorists.
In a press statement, Dole said: “In the early hours of Monday December 2, Boko Haram terrorists attempted to gain access to military locations in Maiduguri metropolis.
“However, troops of the 7 Division, Nigerian Army, have successfully repelled the insurgents and afflicted serious casualties on them.
“The situation around Jimtilo and Maiduguri International Airport General areas are now calm and under control. Our troops supported by Nigerian Air force aircrafts are presently pursuing the terrorists towards the Maiduguri-Beneshiekh- Damaturu road.
“Members of the general public are requested to remain calm and comply with the 24 hours curfew imposed by the Borno State Government. The curfew will be reviewed periodically as the situation improves.”
In the interview with journalists at the Government House, Colonel Dole, who did not give further details on the number of casualties from the side of the military or the terrorists, insisted that military troops were able to inflict serious casualties on the terrorists.
Sources at the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital said, they saw several dead bodies in military and police uniforms being conveyed to the mortuary in the morning of the day of the attacks, but could not know whether they were real security agents, as the terrorists also used military and police uniforms during attacks.
APC reacts
Meanwhile, All Progressives Congress, APC, has condemned Monday’s deadly attack on military and other facilities in Maiduguri, saying it was shocked and saddened by the enormity of the attack and the death of innocent civilians.
In a statement issued in Abuja, yesterday, by its Interim National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said the attacks on Nigerian Air Force planes and helicopters at the NAF base in the city was particularly disturbing, considering the hitherto effective use of aerial attacks against Boko Haram, which is widely believed to have carried out the attacks.
It said nothing in the world can justify such deadly attacks on the military and the collateral deaths and damages inflicted on civilians.
APC, however, called for a renewed strategy to combat the sect, which seems to retain the capacity to carry out such a massive attack in a major city, despite the successes which the military said it had recorded against it since the declaration of a state of emergency in three states last May.
The party said such a strategy must place great emphasis on the gathering of intelligence, adding that failure of intelligence, more than anything else, made Monday’s attack possible.
It called for a probe into how hundreds of attackers could easily infiltrate military facilities, believed to be highly secured.
No foreign aid yet— FG
The Minister of Information and Supervising Minister of Defence, Mr. Labaran Maku, said yesterday that the Federal Government has not decide on whether to seek the assistance of foreign combatants in the fight against terrorism as the Nigeria Armed Forces was capable of handling insurgency in the country.
Maku, who made government’s position known during a press briefing on the 2014 Armed Forces Remembrance Day Celebration, in Abuja, categorically said that the Federal Government was not deterred by the recent attack on the Air Force base in Maiduguri by the insurgent.
He said: “A lot of cooperation has been going on, especially at the ECOWAS level.
“Defence chiefs have strategised to deal with this insurgency. We are working with the international communities.
“The Nigerian Armed Forces are well equipped, trained and they have professional skills to deal with insurgent.
“Although we need cooperation of other countries, but to seek foreign combatants to come into our country, Nigeria has not made that decision.”
The minister also said the recent declaration of Boko Haram and Ansaru as terrorist groups by the United States was a further confirmation of what the country had been battling with.
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