Emir of Suleja removed as Chancellor
Police arrest terror suspects in Benue
Imo buries victims of Kano attacks
NULGE accuses govs of backing sect
Niger govt imposes curfew
THERE is no end in sight yet to the blood-letting. Suspected Boko Haram members at the weekend scaled up their attacks on individuals and places of worship in Niger, Borno, and Yobe states. One of those killed by the suspected terrorists allegedly received a threat letter from the group, which accused him of supporting one of the state government’s crack-down on their members with prayers.
And in Imo State, hundreds of mourners trooped to the graveyard to bury two of their kinsmen, who were killed in last month’s terror attacks in Kano.
It was however a sad adventure for four suspected members of the group, who attempted to attack a church in Makurdi, Benue State yesterday, as they were unmasked and arrested by security operatives.
For the residents of Suleja in Niger State, it was another moment of panic and confusion as the town was hit by a bomb blast, with five people seriously injured. At the time of filing this report, no case of death had been recorded. .
The explosions, witnesses said occurred at 10.00 a.m. near the Christ Embassy Church in a densely populated area of the town.
The Guardian learnt that a car without a number plate loaded with explosives and parked near the church went up in flames after a loud bang.
It was learnt that residents of the area, who were suspicious of the car had alerted security operatives, who advised that nobody should go close to it until the owner shows up but he never did. .
Residents said 20 minutes after the security personnel’s directive, the car, which was parked along Morrocco Road in Suleja, exploded leaving some passers-by seriously injured. They were rushed to the hospital while four other victims had minor injuries. Five vehicles were affected by the explosion.
The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) officials, who were at the scene of the explosion, cautioned the residents against trooping to the area to allow rescue workers unhindered access to the scene.
NEMA spokesman, Mr. Yushau Shuaibu, said the agency had alerted other response outfits of the explosion. .
He confirmed that five persons were injured while no death was recorded. The pastor of the church, Uyi Idugboe, said he believed the perpetrators had planned to detonate a bomb as people left after the Sunday service, in an attempt to repeat a Christmas Day attack that killed about 44 people and was blamed on the Islamist sect, Boko Haram.
Idugboe told reporters that there were a few casualties, adding that security personnel had discovered what looked like a bomb during checks on cars outside the church and were able to bring people inside for protection. .
“My head of security alerted me… He said he noticed something in a sack, a cylindrical stuff with two wires. So, I called the police,” he said. .
“So 25 minutes before the detonation, we already knew. So we called everybody, we got them inside church. That is why we don’t really have casualties.” Meanwhile, Niger State Governor Babangida Aliyu has removed the Emir of Suleja, Mallam Awal Ibrahim as the Chancellor of the state-owned Ibrahim Badomosi Babangida University (IBBU), Lapai.
He is replaced by the Emir of Minna, Alhaji Umar Faruq Bahago.
The removal of the monarch came a month after the state government queried him for his failure to show concern for the victims of the December 25, 2011 bomb blast in Madella in Suleja Local Council of the state.
Aliyu’s action was contained in a statement issued yesterday by Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Mr. Daniel Clifford Shashere. ,
The state government has also imposed a curfew in Suleja from 6. 00 p.m. to 6. 00 a.m.
In the Yobe and Maiduguri incidents, suspected Boko Haram gunmen attacked the residences of the District Head of Geidam in Yobe and an Islamic cleric in Konduga, Maiduguri killing them before their wives and children at 7.35 p.m.
Konduga is 40 kilometres east of Maiduguri, the state capital.
The slain district head, Mustapha Geidam, was the former protocol officer to Senator Bukar Abba Ibrahim while the cleric, Shiek Saina Alhaji Ajiya was 60 years old. .
Geidma was allegedly shot in front of his house after the Maghreb prayers.
On the Konduga attacks, the Borno State Police Command Public Relations Officer Samuel Tizhe, said the gunmen invaded the cleric’s house and fired several gunshots into his head and chest. .
He said no arrest had been made, noting that the nature of the attacks and killings were similar to those carried out by Boko Haram. .
The Guardian learnt that Ajiya was killed because he was “fasting and praying” for the state to succeed in its war against the armed group. .
Mustapha, according to the Yobe Police Commissioner, Tanko Lawan, was written a letter by Boko Haram, warning him to flee his palace and relocate elsewhere because “he is on the sect’s hit list.” .
Tanko said: “The district head was gunned down by suspected Boko Haram men while resting in front of his house after the evening prayers from a mosque.”
He, however, blamed the district head for not alerting the police on the threat letter sent to him before he was shot dead.
Last football Match had been held in honour of the late Chris (footballer) at Emeabiam Comprehensive School, Owerri West playground. .
The two victims of the Kano blasts, who incidentally were from the same family, Chris Anyanwu (14) and Chimobi Anyanwu Chinonso (34) were buried at the weekend in Umuneche, Umuokpo, Emeabiam, Owerri West Local Council of Imo State .
Chris, according to his wailing 40-year-old father, Alhaji Ibrahim Osama Precious Chimnoso, was billed to travel to the United Kingdom (UK) to play for a club side before he died in the January 20, 2012 explosions.
Mr. Iyke Anyanwu-Nwosu, a councillor in Owerri West Local Council, and a relation of the deceased, told The Guardian he had a difficulty in bringing the victims’ bodies home in the heat of the crisis. According to him, Chimaobi was shot six times while Chris was first shot on the leg before his attackers fired several bullets into his body. He said Chimaobi was riding a Camry car along with Chris when the Islamic sect members in military uniform stopped them, dragged them out of the vehicle and fired bullets on them and sped away with the car. .
At the funeral service, Pastor Udoka Walters of The Locust Army International, said death as an enemy of mankind and God, stressing that a great wound had been inflicted on the family. .
The father of one of the deceased, Precious, lives in the Saudi Arabia, but returned home to bury his son
The arrest of four suspected terrorists in Benue yesterday came barely two weeks after 100 persons linked with Boko Haram were picked up by the police. The latest suspects were caught yesterday at St. Theresa Catholic Church, Highlevel in Makurdi, the state capital.
The Guardian learned that they attempted to force their into the church premises at the start of second mass at 10.00 a.m. when they were stopped by private security guard on duty.
The suspects, who were dressed in kaftan with rosary in their hands allegedly failed to answer satisfactorily questions posed to them, a development, which prompted the guards to alert the policemen attached to the church. The police officer, sources said alerted their colleagues on patrol through a distressed call, who rushed to the scene and whisked the suspects away. .
Some worshippers said the suspects claimed to have come from Kaduna State to see somebody in the church, whose name they could not give.
But one of the priests in the church, Rev Father John Tondom told The Guardian that he had not been briefed of the arrest of any suspect. “I have just finished from the mass, I am yet to receive information and you know that there is no way I could know what was happening outside while I was inside the church.” .
The state police command’s Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Alaribe Ejike, who confirmed the arrest of the suspects, said that the people were not members of Boko Haram.
Meanwhile, the President of the National Association of Local Government Employees (NULGE), Alhaji Ibrahim Khaleel, at the weekend, blamed the 36 states governors of the federation for the emergence of Boko Haram insurgency and other security challenges in the country. .
He told journalists in Kano that the resolve by the governors to usurp the powers of the councils set the stage for the appalling security situation in the country. .
Khaleel also accused the governors of abusing constitutional provisions by creating confusion that had led to the imposition of incompetent persons and their lackeys on the councils. .
Nigerians living in the United Kingdom (U.K.) at the weekend held a peace rally outside Downing Street in solidarity with families who lost their loved ones in terrorists’ attacks in various parts of the North.
They said Boko Haram members were waging a war that they would never win.
