Maiduguri, capital of Borno State with
population of over one million, close to
falling to Boko Haram fighters, say elders
Men gather around a car bomb attack in
Maiduguri, Borno State, in July. The attack
was blamed on Boko Haram
Boko Haram fighters have "completely
surrounded" the major northeast Nigerian
city of Maiduguri and are preparing an
imminent takeover, residents warned
yesterday, calling for military
reinforcements.
The warning comes after the United States
warned of an attack on the city of over one
million residents, as analysts said the
government risked losing control of the
region.
But Nigeria's military described the warning
from the Borno Elders Forum – an
influential regional group made up of
retired senior civilian and military officials –
as "alarmist", saying it was "clearly
intended to cause panic in the city and the
nation".
Maiduguri has special significance for Boko
Haram. It was where the heavily armed
Islamist group was founded as an anti-
corruption movement in 2002 and is
regarded as its spiritual home.
The forum voiced its fears after Boko
Haram seized a number of towns and
villages across Borno and in neighbouring
Yobe and Adamawa states in recent weeks
and declared one of them part of an
Islamic caliphate.
In Borno, the militants are now said to
control an area from the north around Lake
Chad, down to the eastern border with
Cameroon and round to Bama, 45 miles
from Maiduguri to the south.
Nigeria's military has claimed to have
retaken Bama, but the elders said the
government needed to act, asserting that
the militants were in reach of the city.
"They have declared their caliphate is an
independent Islamic State with their
headquarters at the all-important and
military strategic city of Gwoza," the elders
said in an emailed statement.
"They declared the Gwoza Emir's palace as
their seat of government, hoisting their flag
there. They have annexed and are sitting in
court in several other key towns and
regions ...
"They have completely surrounded the city
of Maiduguri. It is apparent that their
imminent target is to take the city of
Maiduguri, the Borno state capital," they
said, also calling on the government to
fortify the city.
Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states have
been under emergency military rule since
May last year but despite Boko Haram
being driven out of Maiduguri by the
military and civilian vigilantes, thousands of
people have since died in the countryside.
Many more have been forced to flee their
homes. A recent United Nations estimate
said that as many as 650,000 people had
been displaced both within Nigeria and into
neighbouring countries.
The elders said that half of Borno state's
4.1 million population was now living in
temporary housing in Maiduguri and there
were genuine fears that an attack could
exacerbate the crisis.
Roads and bridges have been destroyed,
schools shut and the economy blighted.
Maiduguri has also been without mains
electricity for the last three months.
The elders even warned of "starvation"
given that subsistence farmers had not
been able to plant crops this year because
of the chaos.
Borno had been devastated by "five years
of horror, death, destruction and misery",
they added, and criticised the government
for its "dismal but also frustrating"
response to the insurgency.
The militants had been treated with "kid
gloves", they said, while a supposed troop
surge had not been effective.
Nigeria's military has seen dissent within its
ranks, with soldiers complaining of a lack of
adequate weaponry to fight the better-
armed militants. Some soldiers have
refused to deploy or fled attacks.
They added that there had not been
enough political will to fight Boko Haram
and warned that the situation risked "the
total annihilation of the inhabitants of
Borno".
On Twitter, Nigeria's military said: "All
facets of security arrangements for the
defence of Maiduguri has been upgraded
to handle any planned attack or attempt to
disrupt the city's prevailing peace.
"This kind of alarmist report is uncalled for
in view of the efforts and alertness. Citizens
are nevertheless enjoined to remain vigilant
as they go about their lawful business."
The military added that the situation in
Gwoza, Bama and Gamboru Ngala in Borno
and Mubi, Michika, Bazza and Gulak in
Adamawa as well as other parts of the
northeast was "being stabilised".
"Highly coordinated" air and land
operations were continuing and "the
efforts are yielding impressive results in the
overall move to rid the area of terrorists," it
said.
Comments
Post a Comment