The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Mubi

  • Mubi tragedy and PDP Abuja’s mockery of democracy

    President Jonathan, unlike PDP hawks and ethnic irredentists that have captured him is on the surface a complete gentleman whose words will be his honour. And unlike a politician, a man of many words to whom the end justifies the means, he cuts the picture of a pastor. He is patient, a rub-off virtue from his virtuous wife, Dame Patience Jonathan. He seduces everyone with the coy smiles of an innocent shoeless school boy. It is precisely for these reasons PDP needs him more than he needs PDP. And it is for this reason most people think he is unlikely to survive the wiles of PDP, the nemesis of his better gifted godfather, ex-President Obasanjo who realised too late after his third term fiasco the evil influence of sycophants and appropriately admonished his godson to stay clear of them. But tragically for the nation, President Jonathan has been captured by the same forces that destroyed his predecessors who were first persuaded to believe that without them, there would be no Nigeria. He now truly believes he is the best that has ever happened to Nigeria, ‘the embodiment of the combined virtues of our founding fathers’, as Ebenezer Babatope recently claimed. Like Babangida, Abacha and Obasanjo, he now believes Nigeria will disintegrate without him. He has been conditioned by PDP to see anyone that tries to wake him up from this illusion as enemy envious of his achievements and set to derail his 2015 ambition. Elevated to a status of an oligarch, he like all oligarchs even in democracy now believes he is wiser than any other person in the nation. Worse still, even as the insurgents are perfecting strategies to dismember Nigeria, he believes he has fought it into a standstill and that grateful Nigerians are begging him to continue with the good work…He now sees what he wants to see-his own invincibility

    This much is what one can draw from the mockery of democracy which best described the president’s act of picking up of PDP’s only available nomination form in Abuja last week. After picking up the only available application form, the president thanked Nigerians and PDP for the confidence reposed in him by giving him the right of first refusal. He promised to achieve greater things for the country. He went on to ‘thank PDP Governors Forum for providing the N2 million for the procurement of the expression of interest form and the N20 million for the procurement of the nomination form. He was silent on the fact that the generous PDP governors also secured the right of first refusal. He concluded by thanking ‘TAN for providing N22 million for the nomination form, as well as  youths groups, women groups and students for their contribution for the procurement of the form’

    The farce was captured by The Guardian on page three of its October 31, edition by a resourceful production editor who juxtaposed the celebration of the president victory with the gory story of anguish, of sorrow and of pain; of destruction of homes, of families who cannot find their loved ones, of bodies strewn around the streets ,of helpless men and children lying helpless without help in the bush; of soldiers allegedly escaping to Cameroon leaving the residents of the city to face the wrath of Boko Haram brutes.(Cameroon has already admitted having in their protective custody about 300 soldiers).

    But first, the president’s victory.  The path to his victory like that of Boko Haram in Mubi last week was strewn with carcasses of vanquished political enemies. Prominent among them is Obasanjo, his estranged godfather. His hollow cry that it was the turn of the north to produce the president going by PDP constitution to which both he and Jonathan were beneficiaries, was ignored. The price for telling Nigerians his own side of the story was his substitution as South-west PDP rallying point with the president’s trusted friends- Buruji Kashamu, Segun Mimiko and Gbenga Daniel who recently crawled back to PDP from Labour Party after four years of EFCC harassment and of course Ayo Fayose who has threatened to expel Obasanjo from PDP if he fails to desist from his criticism of the party.

    Also listed among his vanquished political enemies was the Northern Elders’ Forum (NEF), whose leadership had in July issued October deadline to Jonathan to bring back the abducted Chibok girls and put a stop to Boko Haram and other violent killings or forget about 2015. Jonathan had dismissed the threat insisting ‘he needed no ultimatum from anybody to live up to his responsibilities to the Nigerian people.’  Similarly ignored is the body’s insistence that “it is the turn of the north to produce the president.

    Another loser is the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF). The body’s allegation  that “most of the crisis plaguing the North is a deliberate ploy to weaken the region economically and politically’  has  been controverted by another body from the north- The Transformation Agenda Solidarity Forum, (TASOF) led by a former chairman of the Federal Character Commission, Alhaji Muhhamadu Gwaska. According to him, “TSAOF has noted with revulsion the unguarded utterances of some mischief makers who masquerade as northern elders and pretend to speak for the entire North regarding the political future of this country.”

    But then a critical look at the crusaders behind the president’s victory. Leading the crusade is Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria (TAN) which claims its objective is ‘to celebrate Jonathan’s sterling human qualities, democratic credentials and landmark accomplishments that are currently under marketed and under advertised’.  It defines itself as a non-governmental organization made up of “individuals of impeccable character”. A leading member of the amorphous group as speculated by the media is Patrick Ifeanyi Uba whose Capital Oil and Gas firm was recently taken over by AMCON following a debt of about N65billion. That was after his running battle with EFCC and Cosmas Maduka’s Choscharis over business deals that went sour.

    Others known members include billionaire oil magnate and PDP chieftain, Arthur Eze, who declared during a meeting of the Elders’ Advisory Council of Goodluck Support Group in Abuja last week that ‘President Jonathan reelection is not negotiable’. On the list also is Innocent Chukwuma, a businessman and owner of Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing Company Limited, who donated 24 vehicles to Goodluck Support Group during the same ceremony.

    Now let us return to The Guardian’s record of events for history. According to the paper, as at 2pm Thursday October 30, when, the president and PDP were celebrating the farce in Abuja, Mubi had been under Boko Haram siege for two days. The paper reported over 200 killed, the torching of Mubi central market, 19 police stations, banks and the Mubi central prison where over 400 prisoners were liberated. It reported that the bridge linking the emir’s palace with Cameroon was blown off.

    In a globalised world where millions saw the video recording of how Obama and his cabinet members monitored from the White House the killing of Osama Bin Laden in his hideout in Afghanistan,  the only plausible explanation for the October 30 mockery of democracy could only be that the president was shielded by PDP from October 29-30  Mubi tragedy.  Even if the president does not know what is in his own interest, how about those paid by the taxpayers to shield him by protecting him from himself?

    We can recall it is the same PDP enemies of our country and enemy of the president who once goaded him on to commandeer three aircrafts bought and fuelled by the nation’s taxpayers to ferry PDP members to Ilorin, Sokoto and Kano to welcome defecting politicians shortly after Abuja Inyanya  bus terminus bombing that killed scores of Nigerians. It is the same self-serving PDP men who appeared on television blaming everyone else except government for the abduction of 300 girls from their dormitory and driven over a distance of 200 kilometres within a state under emergency laws. These are the men who persuaded the president to deploy 12,000 security personnel to intimidate and brutalise the opponent of the PDP candidate during the recent Osun governorship election. These men serve neither Jonathan nor Nigeria.

    I don’t think it is too late for men of good will to save our nation from the impending doom. Credible members of the Council of State like Gowon can for a moment take a break from endless prayers bearing in mind God’s admonition that we will all reap what we sow. He can mobilize other credible leaders like Emeka Anyaoku, Theophilus Danjuma,  Maitama Sule, Shettima Ali Mongono and  Ayo Adebanjo, to talk truth to power and see how we can reclaim our nation back from those who have no state in Nigeria. And time is running out. With Boko Haram controlling nine local councils area in Borno State, we should not wait until the fall of Maiduguri from where Boko Haram can launch aerial attack on any part of the country.

  • How Boko Haram captured Mubi, by witnesses

    How Boko Haram captured Mubi, by witnesses

    Some fleeing residentsof Mubi, Adamawa State’s second largest town, recounted yesterday how it was taken by Boko Haram fighters.

    According to Abubakar Idi, a resident now in hiding, Boko Haram insurgents divided themselves into four groups and headed for Uba where soldiers were stationed. When the news broke that the group was headed for Uba, about three kilometres away, soldiers rushed out of the town.

    According to Abubakar, this took place at about 4am. The presence of a large number of soldiers in Mubi that early morning alerted the people that something was amiss.

    Boko Haram moved in splinter groups at about 6am to attack Mubi town from Mararaban Mubi, which is four kilometres to the main Mubi motor park. Another group came through Vimtim, after the home town of Chief of Defence Staff Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh fell into their hands. Vimtim is 5km to Mubi from the North towards Bazza.

    Abubakar said another group came out of the road that led to the Republic of Cameroon at Gidin Tsamiya.

    They swooped on defenceless residents at about 8am. There was confusion as all military personnel in Mubi had rushed out of the town towards Maiha to Yola.

    Another eyewitness, Hajiya Fatima, 32, said: “My husband was in Yola working. He called me that they learnt of the Uba incident. So I should leave Mubi.”

    “When I came out of my house at about 9am, I saw many people rushing out of Mubi and as I was about calling my husband, some strange youths came into our house and they asked me if I wanted to run too. I said yes; then the boys said anybody who wanted to go could go, but at night they would carry out their duties.”

    Hajiya Fatima went on: “That statement alarmed me and I moved out of the town. At that point, many women, children, old men and youths were running from all directions. It was so pitiful that no one could make any efforts at saving the town. It was terrible. Only God knows what happened and why the police left the people behind.”

    Mr. Innocent Yauba, who lives after the post office in Angwan Lokuwa,  said he saw hell before getting out of Mubi. He said when the soldiers got wind of the situation, they did not inform the people.

    “The youth were prepared to defend themselves against Boko Haram, but the security men simply,  left the town and this situation made the multi billion naira economy of Mubi an easy prey. Boko Haram went to the huge Mubi International Market, searching for foodstuff, goods and money.”

    He said the foreign currency exchange section was most hit because the market was on when they came and surrounded the place. They carted everything into trucks and all the goods were taken to the palace of the Emir as they came back after each delivery at the palace.

    Mr. Yauba said: “Mubi was so easily taken by a band of ragtag youths masquerading as Boko Haram fighters when able bodied youths of the town, if supported by the military, could have overrun them and sadly the security men allowed a buoyant town like Mubi to be taken like a dead chicken”.

  • Tension in Mubi over market relocation

    •Traders clash with soldiers 

    There is tension in Mubi, Adamawa State, as traders and soldiers have clashed over the relocation of the Mubi market.

    Soldiers have issued an order, directing kiosk owners, meat sellers, tea sellers and other businesses on major roads in the commercial border town to relocate.

    The traders, who marched on the emir’s palace, said the one week ultimatum given to them by the local government council based on directive from the army was wicked.

    A trader, Aminu said: “Over 20,000 traders, including women, would be affected by this action. They gave us one week to relocate but they did not tell us where to go. This is inhuman.

    “Is the army here to protect or to harass us? We’ve been under curfew from 7pm to 6 am for months. As if that is not enough, the army reviewed the curfew to 6 pm, we did not complain as well and now the army is saying we should stop our business or relocate for security reasons. Why?”

    He called on the Federal Government to intervene, saying the people have suffered enough and the traders will match force with force with the soldiers.

    Another trader, Joel, said: “In Maiduguri and Yola today, the curfew is from 11 pm to 5 pm but sadly the situation in Mubi is different.

    “We were placed under 7pm to 6am curfew for months we did not complain, the curfew was further reviewed during this Ramadan to 6 pm, we still did not complain and now they said we must relocate our businesses within one week.  Where will we go?”

    The chairman of Mubi North Local Government, Sahabo Jauro, urged the people to remain calm.

     

     

  • Gujba, Mubi and the conscience of a nation

    As education under siege? I ask this question today not because of the ongoing ASUU strike and its fallout, (I will return to that next week) but because of the wanton and senseless massacre that took place in Gujba, Yobe State penultimate week where 50 students of College of Agriculture were gunned down in cold blood.

    My editor, Mr. Gbenga Omotoso painted the picture graphically in his characteristic style last Thursday (“A bloody birthday”, October 3). He wrote: “If the Abuja incident (referring to the Apo 9) was contentious in its motive and the identities of those involved disputable, not so the massacre of students in Yobe. Students of the College of Agriculture, Gujba were in bed last Sunday when a group of armed men stormed their hostel, woke them up and lined them up outside where they were executed. Forty – the official figure – died immediately in the Boko Haram attack. One died the next day in the hospital”. The students were between 18 and 25.

    He posed a fundamental question in the course of the article whether it was right for the government to go ahead with the independence celebration with so much innocent blood shed. “I do not think so. Shouldn’t we have declared a national day of mourning? I believe we should have,” he wrote. In a saner and conscience driven society this is what would have happened, but not in Nigeria. It was Aljazeera that first showed the footage of the gruesome scene of the massacre. I later saw some pictures the next day in which the service chiefs were busy stretching out their hands toward our “birthday cake” since they were not so close to the President – and his team – who were holding the knife!

    How many Nigerians, I wonder, remembered that only two weeks before that incident that more than 200 Nigerians were killed in yet another suspected Boko Haram attack, this time a well-coordinated ambush. Some reports said close to 100 Nigerian soldiers died in the ambush because they ran out of bullets! The army swiftly denied the figure. Their bodies were still being recovered from the bush when the Westgate crisis broke. Our leaders got busy offering “help” to Kenya in the aftermath of the incident totally oblivious of the innocent blood flowing in their domain.

    Don’t get me wrong, just like every human being; my heart went out to the families of the innocent victims that were brutally killed by a depraved organisation with an equally depraved ideology. But what “help” can a government that looks the other way when its own citizens are mowed down possibly offer other than to play to the gallery? I almost wept when some of our leaders were quoted as saying “only…” a certain number of people were killed. Can you beat that! When have they suddenly had the power to create a human being that it is “only” when a million perhaps die that they’ll be moved? Have we sunk this low that human lives have suddenly become a matter of debate over statistics? Where has our consciences gone? For how long will we continue to waste our youths?

    Should we heap the blame at the feet of the government alone? What of her citizens? Did you feel anything in the air that a terrible calamity just befell us? We were busy “monitoring” events in Kenya and other places while back home nobody seemed to bother about those killings. Rather, the government was more interested in a national conference and gullible Nigerians are joining the fray and shouting themselves hoarse without understanding the dynamics, machination and intents of the corrupt political and ruling elites. They are saying it’ll be the magic wand that will resolve all our problems and show us how to live, interact and relate with each other!

    Remember the Mubi Massacre where 40 tertiary institutions students were murdered in cold blood a little over a year ago? I’ll ‘forgive’ you if you’ve forgotten, after all, this is perhaps the only country in the world where citizens do not remember what happened a week before, or is it the frequency and intensity of the events or the impunity which they assume that is the problem? Do you still remember the pension scam? What happened to those involved especially a certain director that even defied the Senate arrest warrants! I can go on and on, but that is not my focus.

    Let me refresh your memory again because our consciences have become numb, or as The Bible puts it “seared”. Reuters was the first to break the news of the Mubi massacre a few hours after it happened. My first reaction then was to castigate the foreign media for being at it again. I began monitoring the local media, but it was all blank. A few hours after the Reuters report, it was picked up and actually appeared in the online version of some newspapers. A cold chill went down my spine; I was shocked, befuddled and dumbfounded at the same time. Who or which group carried out this senseless murder? What was the motive? What would anyone gain by killing students? My mind was abuzz with questions that I could not find ready answers to.

    On Independence Day last year, a group of yet to be identified assailants stormed three tertiary institutions in the town of Mubi, Adamawa State; the Federal Polytechnic, Adamawa State University and the School of Health Technology. About 26 students were killed at the Federal Polytechnic with the other two institutions accounting for 14 deaths. Lecturers and students who witnessed the gory spectacle said that some of those killed were final year students who were preparing to defend their academic projects while others were just starting their examinations.

    In Abuja, then Minister of Education, Prof. Ruqayyatu Ahmed Rufa’i, briefed the Federal Executive Council (FEC) on the killings which elicited condemnations from all members. As has always been the norm now, Presidential spokesman. Dr. Reuben Abati said President Jonathan described the killings as tragic, sad, barbaric and shocking.

    “The President has directed security agencies to investigate the matter and get to the root because this kind of incident, where people were called out and shot, is really shocking. He directed that no stone should be left unturned in the bid by the law enforcement agencies to ensure that perpetrators of the mayhem are brought to book”. Abati said the government regretted that the massacre occurred when considerable progress was being made in tackling the security challenges in some parts of the country. So, one year after that “shock” where are we? Are we close to finding the killers?

    What about the “Aluu 4”? One year after we are not close to really fishing out the brains behind the murder of the students of University of Port Harcourt which painted us as barbarians on the prowl since the gory spectacle went viral.

    How will I forget to mention the event of last July where no fewer than 29 students and a teacher were murdered by the same suspected Boko Haram terrorists at a Government Secondary School in Mamudo, also in Yobe State. According to the security agency’s spokesman, Lieutenant Eli Lazarus, the gunmen “stormed the school around 5:30 am and began to shoot at the students from different directions,” thus creating the pandemonium that left the school children at the mercy of their executioners.

    A careful reading of these unfortunate events shows that there seems to be a pattern to this growing madness targeted at schools in Yobe and Borno States. In June, seven students and two teachers were killed during an attack on a school in Damaturu, Yobe state capital, about the same time that some 14 students were killed inside examinations hall in Maiduguri, Borno State, in two separate incidents.

    As far as I’m concerned, nothing can be more dangerous than a systematic attack on students and school children who ordinarily represent the future of our country. There is also no doubt that the increasing violence has deepened the scepticism of Nigerians who have grown weary of the government constant assurance of providing adequate security for the citizenry. Should we allow things to continue this way? We all need to search our consciences because we delude ourselves so much in Nigeria.

  • Remembering the ‘Mubi 43’

    Remembering the ‘Mubi 43’

    ONE year after, parents, friends and colleagues of the slain 43 students of the Federal Polytechnic in Mubi, Adamawa State, are still mourning. The death of these promising youngsters, they said on Tuesday, is difficult to forget.

    Mr John Odewale whose son, James, a National Diploma (ND) II Electrical Electronic Engineering student, was among those killed by the gunmen who invaded the school in the night of October 1, last year, said: “We have tried hard to forget it but my brother, it has not been easy for me and my wife to cope with the reality that a child we reared for 19 years could be killed just like that by people we still don’t know. What is painful is that the identities of the killers cannot be confirmed and in the last one year, nobody has come to tell us the reason why our son should die for no just cause.

    “In the last one year, we have not been contacted by the government, whether state or federal, over the death of our son . This is the height of insensitivity. Innocent students were killed because of the inability of the government to manage the security of the country. The only people who visited us were members of the polytechnic management, who brought N30,000 to buy casket to bury our son. Is this a country?” Odeyemi, who has been living in Adamawa State for more than two decades, asked.

    The feeling was the same when hundreds of students of the polytechnic gathered in the school’s main auditorium last Tuesday to say prayers for their departed colleagues.

    Clad in black attires, the students quietly filed into the hall one after the other. They held an interdenominational session for the deceased students.

    They were led by the students’ Union President, Joseph Usiiju.

    Deto Etim, a student of Management, who escaped unhurt when his Wuro Patugi hostel was invaded by the gunmen, thanked God for sparing his life.

    Reliving the incident, he said: “It was a shocking moment for me because I had said my last prayer. The attackers were knocking on my door but I remained in prayer until they left my room to another. I heard the cry of my fellow students being killed. That scene was a hell.”

    At the remembrance service, their colleagues promised to ensure that they did not die in vain.

    They said the security around the campus and the community is nothing to write home about, urging the government to find the killers.

    They decried what they called insensitivity on part of the government to fish out the killers and bring them to the book.

    Usiiji said: “Up till this moment, we don’t know the people that went to Wuro Patugi to kill our colleagues. Even the management does not know. How many students will die if the attackers come back? Government must find the killers and strengthen security around the campus and off-campus hostels.”

    After the prayer session, the students planned to embark on a procession in the community but they were stopped by the Dean of Students’ Affairs, Mr Leo Ekpene, and the polytechnic’s security personnel.

    Ekpene said the move was necessary because of the security situation in Mubi town.

    Joy Solomon, a Higher National Diploma (HND) II Business Administration and Management, said security in Mubi and the surrounding communities remained fragile. “Up till now, the killers of our colleagues have not been found. We don’t even know if they live around us. Government should ensure adequate security because we cannot afford to witness more bloodshed,” she said.

    Rose Nkwang, a ND II Computer Science, said: “Mubi is still not safe for us. The security situation in the community is yet to improve. We want government to deploy more troops to this area. That would be a better way to forestall repeat of the incident. It makes no sense that after the crisis, we cannot beat our chest on security in Mubi.”

    But Ahmed Isiaka, a student of Mathematics and Statistics, disagreed with his colleagues, saying security had relatively improved in Mubi town. “There has been an improvement in security after the unfortunate incident. Security personnel have been drafted to keep an eagle eye on the campus and residents of affected areas. I really appreciate the government for its efforts so far but the killers must be found. This will heal our wound and make us put the killing behind us,” Isiaka said.

     

     

  • Police foil attack on Mubi North LG chairman

     arrest one suspect

    The police on Tuesday night in Mubi, Adamawa foiled an attempt to attack Alhaji Sahabo Jauro, the Chairman of Mubi North Local Government (LG) in the state.

    The Adamawa Police Command’s Public Relations Officer, DSP Mohammed Ibrahim, confirmed the incident to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Yola.

    Ibrahim said the gunmen, who stormed the chairman’s residence at around 8 p.m, were repelled by the policemen on duty.

    “The policemen on duty shot and injured one of the gunmen, and he was later arrested while the others escaped,’’ he said.

    NAN reports that the latest attack was the second time gunmen would attack the chairman’s residence.

    In the previous attack, which took place about seven months ago, four visitors were killed by gunmen who also robbed guests of the chairman.

  • Wild, wild country

    Wild, wild country

    We must make life count

    The two killing incidents, set apart by just four days, were as horrifying as the word can be. The one took place in the night when the day’s work was done and many had retired to bed; the other happened in broad daylight. On Independence Day, in Mubi, the second biggest town in Adamawa State, and its commercial nerve, students of the Federal Polytechnic sited there were in their hostel when guns began to boom. They sounded near at first, said one student; soon the gunmen drew nearer, still shooting. Panic gripped the hostel community. Everyone hurried into their rooms and locked their doors. But the visitors were on a mission they must accomplish. They kicked the doors open, shot and killed one student after another. At the end of the operation, over 40 students, according to some accounts, lay dead. The incident threw the polytechnic community into imaginable trauma. Friends and families of the dead were left in the deepest grief. The nation was in a daze, while the entire world stood stupefied.

    That was one wild night in the Northeast of the country.

    Four days later, and down south in Aluu, where the University of Port Harcourt, Rivers State, is located, four students of the institution faced the grimmest ordeal of their lives, none of them surviving to relive it. They were stripped naked and beaten until there was no life left in them. Finally, their bodies were burnt.

    That was another wild outing.

    Some reports blamed the Mubi attack on fundamentalists, while in Aluu, residents were said to have done the job.

    Both incidents, not forgetting the killings in a Kano school within the same period, have sharpened up a whole new, horrifying angle in the country’s insecurity challenges. Schools have been attacked before, only now, there seems to be more boldness in taking on larger numbers of Nigeria’s young people secluded for the purpose of study. We must worry about the ease with which assailants invade our schools and kill young people being groomed for leadership. Our educational profile may not lift our spirits but we must worry when students are wasted. More fundamentally, we must worry when lives are wasted by people who neither have the sanction of the creator to do so nor the authority of the law of man. We must worry when mobs become accusers, prosecutors, judges and executioners in one fell swoop, as in the case of the Uniport Four, who were reportedly accused of stealing laptop computers and mobile phones.

    Reports said a crowd watched with interest, even applauding, as the four, all below 22, were tortured to death and their corpses set ablaze. What do you make of such a scene and such an act? Such brutalities attack every claim we make to civility, and rebrand us a wild, wild nation.

    Mob action or jungle justice did not start in Aluu, to be sure. All over the country, people have faced instant death at the hands of streetwalkers and bystanders, and for even the pettiest of offences. But for me, one nasty thing about such brand of justice is that the people dispensing it may be woefully unqualified for the job. Some who clobber mob victims to death may actually be thieves themselves. We can tell from the mob which was eager to slay a certain adulteress caught in the act.

    But there are weightier concerns about jungle justice. It questions the character and professionalism of the police, the outfit whose responsibility it is to sort out civil disorders. How was it that a mob tortured and killed four undergraduates, then set their corpses on fire, an operation that must have lasted hours, without the police getting any wind of it? What do you make of such police? Again, why are people better disposed to taking the law into their own hands rather than reporting their concerns to law enforcers? Why has confidence in the police waned?

    It is perhaps naive to conclude that the Aluu executioners were inspired by the assailants in Mubi simply because of the short space of time between them, but it is safe to say that unlawful killings, of which Nigeria has quite a pile, if not punished, pave the way for more of such barbaric illegalities. Heaps of files of unsolved murders are still with the police, as are bunches of reports on bloody communal and sectarian crises with government. Hope may have died out on those files being reopened or the murderers being brought to justice, and it is just this sort of profile that helps to reduce the value for life in the populace. In time, people with propensity to kill, begin to do so knowing that, as in the past, there is little or no chance of ever being caught and punished. Such scenarios make life seem worthless.

    Everyone has a role to make things better, but people in authority have a bigger responsibility. You can tell if life matters in a local council if the chairman defends one threatened resident with all his soul. It is easy to see if a state or federal government cares for its people if a small endangered community is given the best possible attention.

    Let’s make life count otherwise we are just one wild, wild bunch.

  • The Mubi Polytechnic massacre

    The Mubi Polytechnic massacre

    SIR: This year’s independence celebration has come and gone, perhaps the memories may have gone for most of us but certainly not for the relatives of the over 40 students murdered in cold blood that Monday. According to reports, unknown gunmen went from room to room in Mubi, Adamawa State slaughtering students like goats while some others were sent to their early graves with gun shots. Asides the students, three other persons, including a retired soldier, a guard and father of a student, were reportedly killed as well.

    There has been outrage and condemnation since the tragic incident occurred. The executive roared in anger describing the act as barbaric, sad, tragic and shocking. From the Senate came a flurry of anger with some the members seeking to pass a vote of no confidence on the executive.

    It is not clear yet on the motives of the assailants or even who they are. One fact we must get correctly is that no reason is justifiable for this heinous crime. One of the leads being pointed at as to the possible cause of the butchery is the recently conducted student union election. Some officials believe that there were unresolved issues.

    If this case is a possibility, then it’s time we considered the dirty side of campus politics. Over the years, activities of students and sometimes managements of the institutions on campuses as regards student politics have been a source concern for many. Report of skirmishes and violent acts have trailed many elections in many campuses. Student-politicians as they are called go to any length to acquire power. Some kill, some maim while others soil their hands. In some instances, authorities of the institutions influence the elections.

    A begging question is – what did the authorities in the Federal Polytechnic, Mubi do when they learnt of a possible attack on the students? This question has become necessary as a report claimed that the management of the institution was fore-warned.

    What is the relationship between our institutions of higher learning and the security agencies? If indeed the authorities in the polytechnic were warned before the dastardly act, then we should expect answers.

    At a time the nation is facing grave security challenges, when people live in fear, security agencies must gear up and save us from further tragic stories. We cannot blame it all on the security agencies. It is a communal approach.

    The government must go beyond issuing statements. The lawmakers must also go beyond observing a one minute- silence. It’s time we reclaimed our land. We cannot continue to be at the mercy of men who do not value the sanctity of human lives. There should be a better understanding on the politicking on campuses. The level of relationship between higher institutions and security agencies must be raised.

    Perhaps what might be a little consolation is to bring the murderers to book and take adequate measures toward forestalling future occurrences. The government with the help of the students must cooperate in the area of security. These mindless killings no matter the reason must stop. We certainly cannot continue to watch while we are being reduced in numbers unjustifiably. Showing our indignation and anger aren’t enough. Let our actions match our tears; it’s our obligation to save lives.

     

    • Stanley Ibeku,

    Abuja.

     

  • Mubi killings: SSS arrest two suspects

    Mubi killings: SSS arrest two suspects

    •Jonathan gets interim report

    President Goodluck Jonathan is in possession of a preliminary security report on the Independence Day anniversary massacre of 40 students in Mubi, Adamawa State.

    The report suggests that the killings might not be unconnected with the Students Union Government election held at the Federal Polytechnic, Mubi on the eve of the attack.

    The State Security Service (SSS) has already arrested two suspects alleged to be the masterminds of the killings.

    A source familiar with the matter said: “From the Interim Report, the SSS has succeeded in arresting two suspects who are strongly alleged to be the masterminds of the killings.

    “The government was also briefed that the killings had a strong link with the outcome of the Students Union Government election at the Federal Polytechnic, Mubi.

    “Some aggrieved students were alleged to have embarked on revenge following the defeat of their candidates.

    “The Interim Report shocked the government because it underscored the level at which our youths have degenerated.”

    But government is not ruling out other clues, sources said.

    One source said: “The Police and other security agencies are working on other factors which could have caused for the genocide.

    “Some suspects have also been arrested by the Police. Their interrogation might provide additional clues to the security challenge in Mubi and those behind it.

    “Also, for such violence to have been perpetrated, it suggests a kind of arms pile up in Mubi. The security agencies and the police are expected to get to the root of how students were involved in gun running.

    “There is a suspicion that the killings might be a spill over of the political situation in Mubi and the state. Security agencies are to probe those behind the violent syndicate operating in the commercial town.

    The probe of the killings also involves remedial steps to be taken to prevent a reoccurrence. “So far, a full-scale investigation is still in progress and the nation will be briefed accordingly.”

     

  • Poly rector cries out over hoodlums threat

    Poly rector cries out over hoodlums threat

    Barely three days after the massacre of over 26 students from three tertiary institutions in Mubi, Adamawa State, another institution, the Adamawa State Polytechnic, Yola, is said to be under siege by hoodlums.

    This is coming on the heels of disclosure by the Adamawa State Police Command spokesman, DSP Ibrahim Mohhammed that the command has made a number of arrests in connection with last Monday killings.

    He, however, declined to specify the number of people arrested, as according to him, “it would jeopardize their investigations”.

    The police spokeman did, however, say that the police are working on the possibility that the killings could be linked to cult activities amongst the students as the killings took place barely three days after an acrimonious student union government election at the Federal Polytechnic.

    However, speaking on Thursday the Adamawa State Polytechnic Rector, Professor Abdullahi Bobboi, appealed to law enforcement agents to quickly take measures to protect the students of the institution, following the invasion of the school by hoodlums.

    He said that the school came under attack from some hoodlums allegedly led by one ‘Abdul Black’, whom, he said was believed to have gained access in to the polytechnic complex through the Jimeta police barracks.

    Bobboi, said that two students are now currently lying critically ill at the Yola Specialist Hospital, as result of injuries sustained from the attack by the hoodlums.

    He lamented the incessant incursions into the institution by hoodlums, drug peddlers and miscreants, through the breached fence the institution is said to be sharing with the police barrack.

    “We have complained again and again, time without number to the police authorities in Yola, to intervene, as the security breach is now reaching an alarming rate.”