50 Boko-Haram Suspects Killed & Three Captured In Borno

• Sultan, others urge peaceful co-existence

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.”