A FRESH onslaught by the Joint
Task Force (JTF) on Boko Haram has
led to the killing of 50 members of
the terror group in Maiduguri,
Borno State.
The death occurred at the
weekend after the JTF clashed with
armed terrorists in Zabarmari ward
of Maiduguri metropolis, the state
capital.
Besides, the Sultan of Sokoto,
Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar
III and other Islamic scholars under
the aegis of the Jamaát Nasril Islam
(JNI) Sunday asked Nigerians to
join hands in promoting peaceful
co-existence.
JTF sources said at the weekend
that Zabarmari ward was one of
the identified havens of the
insurgents.
In a separate incident on Saturday
evening, three Boko Haram
suspects were also arrested by
members of Vigilance Youths
Group, a.k.a. “Civilian JTF” at the
Borno Express Motor Park while
travelling to Jigawa State to launch
attacks.
A top military officer in the JTF told
The Guardian Sunday that the
terror suspects were killed before
they could launch attacks in
Zabarmari ward of Jere Local
Council of Maiduguri.
His words: “We received an
intelligence report that a high
number of Boko Haram terrorists
had regrouped and were residing
and hiding in this ward. We
mobilised our troops to the area,
and on reaching the place, the
suspects upon noticing our
presence, began to chant ‘Allahu
Akbar,’ (God is Great) and started
shooting sporadically at the JTF
troops. We, therefore, had no
option than to repel the attackers;
we succeeded in shooting dead 10
terrorists.
“We decided not to take away any
of their corpses, we left them in
the area, but the following day,
when we mobilised our men to the
area, we found out that hundreds
of the terrorists were at one of the
graveyards burying their dead ones, and when we approached, some of them started shooting at our troops which led to the exchange of gunfire for half an hour, that led to the killing of 40 of them.”
He further disclosed: “As I am
talking to you now, our men are
still in Zabarmari hunting for
suspected terrorists who might
have escaped the deadly
encounter.”
Speaking on the arrests, the JTF
source said: “The men of the JTF
are highly delighted with the zeal/
effort being put in place by the
vigilance youths, popularly called
Civilian JTF. They were yesterday
(Saturday) able to arrest three
Boko Haram suspects at the Borno
Express Motor Park.
“They later handed them over to
the JTF local commander. After
their torture, one of them died.
The terrorists are from Bama Local
Council on a suicide mission to
Jigawa and other states in the
North. In fact, the deceased before
his death told us that, already, all
their weapons of massive
destruction had been transported
to the targeted areas; waiting for
them to arrive before luck ran out
on them.”
He said the other arrested
suspects, who seemed to be in
stable condition, promised to take
the JTF men to Bama to show them
some of their members’ hide-outs.
The Sultan, who spoke at the
opening of a conference of Ulamas
organised by the JNI on promoting
peace and unity in Nigeria,
condemned the perception of some
well-placed Nigerians that Muslims
and Islam were always against the
search for peace and development
of the nation.
Abubakar noted: “The main aim of
our coming together today is to
unite our brothers and sisters,
especially the Ulamas. There will
be peace, and if there is peace,
there will be development and
progress in our country and there
will be total security in Nigeria.
“And if there is security, definitely,
there will be development. What is
happening in the northern part of
the country is an unfortunate
incident… maybe the Almighty
Allah wants to correct our ways.
“I believe it is high time all of us
came together and discussed those
things that have been pestering
our lives as Muslims in this
country.”
The Sultan admonished all Muslims
to unite under one umbrella in
order to achieve their aspiration
under one Nigeria.
“We are very aware just like any
other people across the world of
the challenges facing us as
Muslims, not only in Nigeria; we
believe somebody somewhere is
pulling the string. We are begging
Allah for constant prayers from all
of you… “, he said.
In a paper delivered by an Islamic
scholar, Prof. Shehu Galandaci, he
said that the lack of concern for
sound Islamic preaching by Ulamas
had been the major problem that
had heightened the problem of
insecurity.
Galandaci urged all Ulamas to
embrace sound Islamic doctrine
that would help in returning the
country to peace, unity and
progress.
In his own address, the Governor
of Kaduna State, Alhaji Mukhtar
Ramallan Yero, also argued that
Muslim scholars had a role to play
if the country must reverse the
unjustifiable animosity between
Muslims and the other adherents
of other faiths in the country.
He said: “To bring lasting peace and
unity to Nigeria, Muslim scholars
must commit themselves to
preaching peace to the
people...and they must do this by
relating harmoniously with
Christians.”
source :ngrguardiannews.
