.As Gov. commiserates with families of victims
. CAN accuses Gumi of promoting banditry in North
.Says terrorism won’t end with Almajiri phenomenon
The Governor of Yobe State, Mai Mala-Buni, has commiserated with the families of those who lost their lives on Wednesday when a military fighter jet involved in the counter-insurgency operation in the North-East bombed a village in the Yunusari Local Government Area of state.
This is coming hours after the Nigerian Air Force swiftly issued a statement claiming the bombing did not occur but later recanted.
NAF spokesman, Air Commodore Edward Gabkwet had claimed that the agency last conducted a mission in Yobe State earlier in the month.
He said, “NAF last conducted a mission into Yobe State (Not Yunusari LGA) on 5 September 2021 and it was an armed recce. No bomb or missile was even expended”.
But the Buni contradicted the military in a condolence message issued on Thursday by the State Director-General of Press and Media Affairs, Alhaji Mamman Mohammed.
Buni also directed government hospitals in Geidam and Damaturu to offer free medical services to those who sustained injuries during the air strike.
He directed his Special Adviser on Security Affairs, Gen. Dahiru Abdulsalan (rtd.) to liaise with the Nigeria Air force and the Multi-National Joint Task Force to identify the root cause of the strike.
He said, “Government will work closely with the security forces, especially the Nigeria Air Force, to establish what actually happened. This is very important and necessary for us to guard against future occurrences and to safeguard the lives of our people.”
Buni reiterated the commitment of the state government to cooperate with all security agencies to ensure the safety of the people.
A military fighter jet targeting Boko Haram accidentally on Wednesday bombed Buwari community.
The community is located 20 kilometres away from Kannamma, the headquarters of Yunusari Local Government Area of Yobe state.
Villagers in the past have reported some civilian casualties in near-daily bombardments in North Eastern Nigeria.
Recently, a military jet that came to repel an attack by Boko Haram dropped a bomb that landed in a compound where civilians were holding a naming ceremony.
A fighter jet also on a mission against Boko Haram extremists in April, 2021 mistakenly bombed men of the Nigerian Army, killing over 20 officers.
The soldiers who were reinforced from Ngandu village were said to be on their way to Mainok, headquarters of the Kaga Local Government Area of Borno state which was under attack by militants from the Islamic State-backed faction of Boko Haram, the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), formerly known as Jamā’at Ahl as-Sunnah lid-Da’wah wa’l-Jihād.
CAN accuses Gumi of promoting banditry in North
.Says terrorism won’t end with Almajiri phenomenon
The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) on Thursday warned that the security challenges and banditry in the Northern region would not end soon as the Almajiri phenomenon continue unchecked.
According to CAN, since the government had allowed insecurity to continue, it would consume the nation.
The chairman of CAN in Imo State, Rev. Dr. Eches Divine Eches, stated these in an interview with journalists in Abuja ahead of its 45th anniversary and Founder’s Day scheduled for Friday (today) in Owerri.
According to him, the government should caution popular Islamic cleric, Ahmed Gumi whose utterances, he said, have been promoting banditry in the Northern region.
Eches said the programme was necessary in remembering the labour of past heroes, including over 250 retired church leaders and indigent youth and women across the 27 LGAs in Imo State, who were weak and retired.
“I want to also give kudos to His Excellency, the Executive Governor of Imo State, Senator Hope Uzodinma, who in his magnanimity provided and partnered with the church for the resources to get this done.
“They laboured to bring to bear what we are enjoying and working on today. We thought it very necessary to remember the weak among us as most of them are passing through terrible times, especially in such a time as this in our nation
“So, we thought it very important that we will use this 45th anniversary of our Founders’ Day to celebrate such a people and remember their labours, and say to them ‘you deserve to be celebrated’ both by cash and gift”, he said.
He warned that except drastic measures were put in place to curtail Almajiri phenomenon, banditry would remain in Northern Nigeria.
He said, “You can’t have Almajiri system of life and government in the last 40 years in our nation bringing up people without any trace to families, hometowns or nationalities. They are scattered all over the street, without you knowing that someday they will leave the street and go to the bush where they will begin to do the trade of kidnapping.
“You can’t, in a sane nation, have the likes of Gumi, a religious scholar, going about promoting banditry and you don’t think that this will continue. Yet, that is what we are seeing today. We are not seeing anything more than what we have planted.
“We allowed this thing (insecurity) to continue and it is now going to consume the nation, if drastic measures are not put in place to take them (Almajiri) out of the streets. Give them a sense of belonging, put them in school, and help them realize their potentials.
“These bandits were the Almajiri who used to be in front of our houses and begging.
“We are praying and that is why God is still sustaining our nation. I trust God will continue to sustain us in Jesus name.”
