.As Tinubu,UN condemn bomb attacks in Borno State
.Says purveyors of terror’ll pay heavy price
.It is a sad development-Atiku
CHIGOZIE AMADI
In the early hours of Sunday, terrorists launched a devastating attack on Bwari Area Council, leaving one person dead and four others kidnapped.
The attack, which began around 12:30 am, targeted the Guto, Piyawe, Tudun-Fulani, and Sabon Gari areas, all within the council headquarters.
Residents reported that two groups of terrorists, numbering over 30, invaded the area, shooting sporadically and forcing their way into homes.
Eyewitnesses alleged that the invaders came into the Piwaye through the swaps and made their way to Guto and Piyawe where they kidnapped a man and killed a woman in her mid forties.
“What happened last night was very unfortunate. We couldn’t sleep from 12:30am when they started till almost three o’clock. Initially we thought it was vigilantes that were shooting, but when it became persistent, we knew these people are back again.
“We have had peace for sometime now but unfortunately they have resumed and this time with full force because it was two groups that entered Bwari that yesterday. One was in Guto while the other group was in Piyawe. It was obvious those ones came prepared, because the sounds we heard through the night, suggest they came with sophisticated weapons.”
“We felt so helpless because the kidnappers operated for over an hour, but there was no police or army to challenge them. I called my neighbour when the shooting started and he said he had already called the police. We waited for them to show up for 20 minutes and when we didn’t hear sounds of sirens, we called again but they keep telling us they were on their way. We never saw them until the kidnappers left on their own.”
Madam Alice, a woman in her mid-40s, was killed during the attack, while two victims were abducted from Guto and another from Tudun-Fulani, just a kilometer from the council secretariat.
The attackers operated for over an hour without any challenge from security agencies, leaving residents feeling helpless. Despite frantic calls to the police, they failed to show up, and the terrorists left without any intervention.
This latest attack comes after a period of relative peace in the area, which had previously been overrun by bandits and kidnappers. The attack has raised concerns about the effectiveness of security measures in place to protect residents.
The police have yet to respond to the attack, and attempts to reach the Police Public Relations Officer for the FCT Command, Josephine Adeh, have been unsuccessful.
In a another development President Bola Tinubu has strongly condemns the bomb attacks, which resulted in the loss of precious lives and the maiming of other citizens in Gwoza Local Government Area of Borno State.
President Tinubu describes the attacks as desperate acts of terror and a clear manifestation of the pressure mounted against terrorists and the success achieved in degrading their capacity to launch offensives.
The President declares that the purveyors of wanton violence shall have a certain encounter with justice, and that these cowardly attacks are only but an isolated episode as his government will not allow the nation to slither into an era of fear, tears, sorrow, and blood.
The President states that his administration is taking necessary measures to secure citizens, emphasizing that efforts will be redoubled to ensure that those who trouble the nation, dispatching precious lives, and disrupting law and order are completely removed.
President Tinubu condoles with the victims of the attacks, the families of the deceased, as well as the government and people of Borno State.
Also, The United Nations has condemned a recent suicide bomb attacks that targeted civilian populations in Gwoza, a Local Government Area of Borno State.
The attacks, which took place on Saturday have resulted in at least 18 deaths and dozens of injuries.
The attacks, carried out by suspected female suicide bombers, struck a wedding, a hospital, and a funeral in Gwoza, a town near the border with Cameroon.
According to the Borno State Police Command spokesman, Nahum Daso, on Sunday, three blasts took place on Saturday in Gwoza.
The UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria, Mohamed Fall, in a statement on Sunday, expressed his horror and condemnation of the attacks in the strongest terms.
“I am horrified by this attack on civilian populations and condemn such acts in the strongest terms. I stand in solidarity with the Government of Nigeria and the families and communities of all those affected,” he stated.
Fall also reminded all parties involved in the conflict of their obligations under international humanitarian law to protect civilians from harm.
He emphasised the United Nations’ commitment to supporting the victims of the attacks and conveyed his condolences to the Borno State Government.
“I have reached out to the Borno State Government to express my condolences and offer any support that the United Nations and the humanitarian community can provide to aid the victims of the attack,” he added.
Meanwhile, Former Vice president Atiku Abubarka has stressed that the suicide bomb attack is a sad development that the ugly incidents of terrorism are resurfacing and, indeed, metastasising in the North-East.
He stated this on his X-handle ,that the reported attack by suicide bombers at a wedding reception, funeral procession, and a hospital on Saturday stands condemned.
It is unfortunate that much of the pushback that had been achieved against the Boko Haram terror sect are being cancelled, owing mainly to the government’s lacklustre posture to hold firmly on the frontline.
It is thus important to call on the federal authorities to wake up to their responsibility and to make sure that the North-East does not slide back into a theatre of terrorism and extreme violence.
My condolences go to the families of victims of these attacks, and it is my prayer that God grants a peaceful repose to the souls of the departed.
