NIGER State governor, Abubakar Sani Bello, confirmed on Monday that Boko Haram insurgents have hoisted their flag in Kaure village, in Erena township axis of Shiroro Local Government Area of the state, two hours drive from the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, reports the Nigerian Tribune.
According to the report, the governor also said that the Boko Haram fighters forcefully snatched wives of some of the villagers and married them. There had been attacks on Niger communities of recent, which were attributed to bandits. At this point CNN captions the incident "Boko Haram fighters have hoisted flag and forcefully acquired wives in Nigerian town, governor says" while Arise News drops it as "Abuja Not Safe, Niger Governor Warns After Boko Haram Hoists Flag ‘Two Hours Drive’ from Nigeria’s Capital"
However, the reports have it that Governor Sani Bello made the revelation in Minna, when he paid an on-the-spot assessment visit to the internally displaced persons (IDP) camp at Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (IBB) Primary School, near the palace of the Emir of Minna, Alhaji Umar Bahago, in Chanchaga Local Government Area of the state.
The primary school was hurriedly turned to IDP camp after about 5,000 residents were displaced from their ancestral homes by bandits in Shiroro and Sarkin Pawa, in the neighbouring Munya Local Government Area of the state, at the weekend.
Describing the revelation as a dangerous dimension which has been
introduced to the bandit attacks in Niger State as Governor Abubakar Sani Bello
on Monday said Boko Haram terrorists have hoisted the terror group’s flag in
Kaure village, in Shiroro local government area of the North-Central Nigerian
state, Arise News seems to align with CNN's stake that
But Nigerian Tribune submits that the governor also said the Boko Haram fighters had forcefully taken over the wives of some of the villagers and allocated them to themselves.
"Their towns have been taken over by bandits and Boko Haram elements", the governor disclosed. "Their wives have been seized from them and forcefully attached to Boko Haram members.
“I am confirming that there are Boko Haram elements here in Niger State, here in Kaure. I am confirming that they have hoisted their flags here".
Bello warned that Boko Haram's infiltration into Kaure, a rural community in Shiroro Local Government Area of Niger State, poses a huge security threat to Nigeria's capital city Abuja, which Niger borders to the east.
"The Boko Haram elements are trying
to use this area as their home, just as they did in Sambisa. Sambisa is
hundreds of kilometers away from Abuja. But Kaure is less than two hours drive
to Abuja. So nobody is safe anymore... Not even Abuja is safe," Governor
Bello warned.
“This is what I have been engaging the Federal Government on, unfortunately, it has now got to this level, if care is not taken, even Abuja is not safe. We have been saying this for long, all our efforts have been in vain. With the latest unfortunate development, I hope the time has come for a more coordinated military activity to take place.”
The governor said the fight against the insurgents is not for Niger State alone, adding that the government had made efforts to curb series of attacks by bandits in the state without much success.
The governor therefore told the federal
government that: ”This is the time to act , All hands must be on deck, it is
not a fight for Niger state alone”.
He said the state government had made every efforts to bring under control the series of bandits attacks in the state to no avail.
“I am not waiting for anyone anymore, I am going to take action”, he said.
You would recall according to CNN, Abuja had been previously hit by terror attacks. In 2011, multiple explosions rocked the city, killing dozens. Also hit was a United Nations building, during which at least 18 people died.
Sambisa, a vast forest reserve in Borno State, northeast Nigeria, has served as a hideout and stronghold of Boko Haram operatives, whose deadly activities have caused the death of more than 37,000 people and displaced over two million since 2011, according to data by the Council on Foreign Relations.
Bello's comment comes days after the jihadist sect was reported in local media to have erected its flag in Geidam, an insurgency-troubled community in Yobe State.
A Nigerian Army spokesman told CNN on
Tuesday that Boko Haram terrorists have been dislodged from Geidam.
"There is no Boko Haram in Geidam. They were there...we had a running battle with them and they are no more there. They did not hoist their flag at any point," said Brigadier General Mohammed Yerima.
Yerima told CNN he was unaware of Boko
Haram's incursion into Niger State.
"I'm just hearing this from you," he said, adding that "it has not been reported to us."
Yerima, however, stated that no Nigerian territory is being controlled by terrorists.
A spokesman for the police in Niger, Wasiu Abiodun, told CNN that the force could not dispute Governor Bello's claim about the influx of Boko Haram fighters into the state.
"The executive governor is the chief security officer of the state... Are you expecting the police to dispute or go against the pronouncement of the executive governor?" Abiodun asked.
On the huge number of displaced persons in the camp, Nigerian Tribune reports that Sani Bello announced that some of the IDPs are now returning home, adding, however, that some others are taking refuge with their relations in communities they consider safe havens while the vast majority of them will have to remain here in the IDP camp because their villages and towns have been taken over by bandits.
Nigerian Tribune investigations showed that among the IDPs were about 1,447 children, 119 pregnant women and 447 other women, including nursing mothers.
Meanwhile, Governor Sani Bello has disclosed that no fewer than 50 villages in five local government areas of the state have been deserted due to banditry.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the governor made the disclosure on Monday in Minna, while opening a two-day training workshop for local government directors and revenue officers.
The governor said: “Presently, we have over 3,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) camping in Minna, aside the ones we have in local government areas. Where do we get the resources to take care of them?
“It is time we cut down on our expenditure, come together to see how we can address issues of ghost workers and those looting the state of its resources.”
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