Inter-agency rivalry hampering anti-Boko Haram war – KANO EMIR
Military declared 100 suspected Boko Haram sect members wanted .
Former Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Governor and Emir of Kano,
Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, yesterday, faulted what he called unhealthy
rivalry among security agencies in the country in their fight against
insurgency, saying the trend, if not checked, could derail government
determination to end Boko Haram activities in December.
Also the Nigerian Army has declared 100 suspected Boko Haram sect members wanted.
Army
Sanusi spoke on a day Nigerian troops raided several camps of the Boko Haram sect,
rescuing 338 persons who were held captive by the terrorists and
killing 34 of the insurgents, while declaring 100 of them wanted.
The Emir, who frowned at the inter-security agencies rivalry spoke at
the second edition of Nigeria Security Exhibition and Conference held
in Abuja, sponsored by the Nigerian Communications commission, NCC, and
other agencies.
Sanusi, who was represented by an Assistant Inspector General of
Police (retd) and the District Head of Albasu Kingdom in Kano State, Mr.
Bashiru Albashir, said that such trend was not the way to go in
tackling terrorism of that nature.
Calls for cooperation
He called for cooperation among all the security forces, which he
said must complement each other in exchange of intelligence and relevant
information relating to security matters.
His words: “I spoke about cooperation among security agencies. Police
is a physical security, while Civil Defense is also physical security
known and seen by everybody.
“But the Department of State Services, DSS, is undercover security.
“There must be opportunity for the two to complement each other. The
DSS will get information and depending how relevant the information is,
if it is not sent to Police, they should pass it to the army.
“This understanding and cooperation is what will move us forward, not
competing among themselves and saying I am superior to you. That will
not help us go anywhere.”
Suggest solutions to insecurity
He advised government to initiate purposeful programmes that will
enable the country tackle corruption, poverty, injustice and ignorance,
arguing that such steps would surely provide a lasting solution to the
current insecurity in the country.
According to him, “terrorism did not start from the air; there are
breeding grounds like ignorance, poverty, injustice and corruption. If
government is fighting insurgency in the field, in Sambisa Forest and
other places, it must also address these fueling agents at the
background.
“There must be purposeful programme to tackle corruption, which the
present government is doing. Unless we are able to do these, it will
take us time to stamp out terrorism.
“The intelligence unit must cooperate with the police so that we can
tackle terrorism. What we need is prevention before striking and we
cannot prevent the attacks without intelligence.”
338 Boko Haram captives
Meanwhile, in continuation of the battle to clear Boko Haram terrorists
from the North-East by December, Nigerian troops, backed by Air Force
fighter aircraft, have successfully raided several camps belonging to
the terrorists, rescuing 338 abductees, including men, women and
children.
During the encounter leading to the rescue of the abductees, 34
terrorists were killed at the camps located at the fringes of Sambisa
Forest.
Military authorities confirmed that among the 338 rescued persons
held captive by the terrorists were eight males, 138 females and 192
children.
They have since been evacuated to Mubi for profiling as well as for medical administration.
Giving further details of the operation, the Army headquarters, in a
statement by Colonel Sani Usman, said: “Troops of 28 Task Force Brigade
Nigerian Army deployed at Bitta and Pridang, carried out a successful
raid on suspected Boko Haram terrorists camps at Bulajilin and Manawashe villages along Bita and Damboa road at the fringes of Sambisa forest on Tuesday.
“The troops were able to kill 30 Boko Haram terrorists. The unit also rescued 338 persons that were held captive by the terrorists in the enclaves.
“The rescued persons which comprised male eight, female, 138 and children, 192, have since been evacuated to Mubi.
Recovered arms
“Troops also recovered arms and ammunition during the operation: They
include one General Purpose Machine Gun and two Dane Guns, 150 rounds
of 7.62mm (NATO), six boxes of 7.62mm (NATO) and three cutlasses.
“In a related development, troops, based on a tip-off, ambushed and killed four suspected Boko Haram terrorists on a suicide bombing mission to Gubula, Madagali Local Government Area, Adamawa State.
“Apart from two AK-47 rifles recovered, the troops also recovered some Unexploded Ordinances, UXOs, mortar bombs and N153,385.
“It is worthy to note that the raid operation on the Boko Haram enclave coincided with the Chief of Army Staff’s operational visit to the Brigade Headquarters in Mubi.
“The successful clearance operations and ambushing of the terrorists
has further degraded them and saved the lives of so many innocent
victims of their suicide bombings.
“Having appealed and given the terrorists final warning, we would
like to state that from now on troops within bounds of respect for human
rights and rules of engagement, we shall continue to decisively deal
with Boko Haram terrorists until they are defeated.
... as Army asks for information
“Therefore, we are appealing for continued vigilance, security
consciousness and, above all, cooperation with the military and security
agencies to enable us successfully defeat the terrorists.”
The Military has also declared 100 suspected Boko Haram sect
members wanted for “arrests, prosecution and punishment,” and urged
members of the general public to provide useful information to the
military and other security agencies on suspects’ hideouts and
residences in the North-East sub-region of the country.
Information about the “wanted suspects,” according to the Chief of Army Staff, Lt-Gen. Tukur Buratai, could be given via 0818155888, 08160030300 and 07053333123.
