The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Shuwa

  • Suicide bomber dies trying to kill Adamawa residents

    The Police in Adamawa State confirmed Sunday evening that a female suicide bomber trying to bomb people in a crowd in Shuwa, Adamawa State succeeded only in killing herself.

    The Police Public Relations Officer, Othman Abubakar, who confirmed the development to The Nation correspondent, said a second suicide bomber who similarly attempted to detonate a bomb strapped on her, was stopped from doing so by security agents.

    “While the first one killed herself as she sought to kill others, the second one was saved from herself and her targets,” Othman said.

    Read also: Police killed supporter, not observer in my residence, says Ayogu Eze

    Shuwa is in Madagali Local Government Area (LGA), a place that has in recent weeks and months been haunted frequently by the Boko Haram insurgents.

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had announced a couple of months to the ongoing elections, that following security advice, elections would take place in the Madagali LGA in only three towns, which happens to include Shuwa.

  • Boko Haram kills five in Adamawa

    Boko Haram insurgents attacked three communities in Madagali Local Government Area of Adamawa State Monday night, dislodging policemen on routine duty and wreaking havoc on the town.

    A security officer who spoke on the incident on condition of anonymity Tuesday morning said the insurgents killed three people, destroyed 20 shops and three cars and carted away valuable items.

    The anonymous security officer named the communities affected as Shuwa, Kirshingari and Shuari.

    This latest attack confirms fears over the security situation in Madagali, the only local government area in Adamawa State where the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had earlier said voting would take place in only three communities, including Shuwa.

    Residents said the insurgents who arrived in several vehicles about 7pm Monday, took over Madagali until soldiers from Gulak and Michika intervened to engage the insurgents in a battle that lasted for about two hours.

    The Commander of 28 Task Force Battalion in Mubi, Lt Col Haruna, said the insurgents had been repelled.

    The Police Public Relations Officer in Adamawa State, DSP Othman Abubakar, assured that a combined team of security personnel had brought the situation under control.

    Madagali is one of the seven LGAs in Adamawa State that Boko Haram once seized. The situation remained so bad in the area just before elections in 2015 that the elections did not hold there and the neighbouring Michika LGA.

  • JTF not responsible for Shuwa’s killing, says Ihejirika

    JTF not responsible for Shuwa’s killing, says Ihejirika

    •Faults Amnesty’s report

    The Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Azubuike Ihejirika, has denied reports linking the Joint Task Force (JTF) to the shooting of Maj-Gen Mohammadu Shuwa, in his home last Friday.

    This followed the denial by Boko Haram that it was responsible for the killing.

    But an official account of the shooting linked the act to the group.

    Unknown gunmen shot Shuwa and a guest at his home in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital.

    An account by JTF spokesman Col. Musa Sagir said the gunmen entered the late General’s home while he was hosting guests shortly before the Jumat prayers and shot at him and his guests.

    But Ihejirika yesterday debunked insinuations that members of the JTF are responsible for the killing.

    Speaking through the Army spokesman, Brig-Gen Bolaji Koleosho, the Army chief dismissed the insinuation.

    He said: “All we are interested in is restoring peace to Maiduguri and this is what our officers lay down their lives to do.

    “How can you accuse them of turning back to kill the same people they are protecting?

    “It just does not add up. What reasons could the JTF have against Maj-Gen Shuwa? We debunked it and we condemned it.

    “It is unfair on the military to be accusing us of killing our own.”

    Chief of Civil Military Relations Maj General Bitrus Kwaji faulted the report of Amnesty International, which indicted JTF of violation of human rights in the handling of Boko Haram insurgents.

    Kwaji regretted that Amnesty did not hear the military’s side before going public with its report.

    He said the organisation, which claimed to have visited Borno, Kano,Bauchi states and the Federal Capital Territory, did not balance its report by contacting security agencies during its investigation.

    According to him, the JTF acts under the terms of reference given to it and if it had done otherwise, Amnesty ought to have brought its observation to the attention of security agencies before the publication.

    He stated that if any individual or group in the Army had been found wanting, such individual or group would have been sanctioned accordingly.

    “There is no truth whatsoever in what Amnesty reported.

    “Its report was in favour of Boko Haram; it was one-sided.

    “You cannot have a report like this without interviewing security forces.

    “You just can’t come out and say that security forces have violated the rights of Boko Haram members or that security forces are involved in human rights abuses.

    “Whatever the JTF does is within the ambit of the law,” Kwaji stated.

     

  • Shuwa Killing: Tributes as slain General is laid to rest

    Shuwa Killing: Tributes as slain General is laid to rest

    Major General Muhammed Shuwa (rtd), the civil war hero who was shot dead by suspected members of Boko Haram at his Maiduguri residence on Friday was laid to rest yesterday in the city in accordance with Islamic rites.

    The burial rites were performed by the Chief Imam of Maiduguri, Alhaji Kyari in the presence of a crowd of relatives, associates, government officials and sympathisers.

    The state government delegation comprising members of the executive council was led by the Secretary to the State Government, Alhaji Baba Ahmed Jidda.

    Also in attendance were members of the National Assembly from the State, members of the State House of Assembly and Local Government officials.

    The Northern Governors Forum (NSGF) and Senate President David Mark yesterday condemned Gen. Shuwa’s assassination.

    The NSGF called it callous and one death “too many.” It said no grievance can justify such a dastardly act against innocent people.

    Chairman of the body, Governor Babangida Aliyu of Niger State therefore asked terrorists across the country to stop shedding the blood of the innocent.

    The forum also expressed shock at the reported killing of about 40 youths by military men in Maiduguri on Thursday night.

    Aliyu in a statement through his Chief Press Secretary, Malam Danladi Ndayebo, said: ‘’It is sad that a committed Nigerian like Gen Shuwa who gave everything for the unity of the Nigeria could be killed in such a gruesome manner.’’

    The forum, however, applauded federal government’s acceptance of the offer of negotiation by Boko Haram and hoped that the initiative will usher in peace, security and tranquillity in the country after years of unnecessary bloodletting.

    ‘’It is our fervent belief that dialogue, rather than use of force, would help find a lasting solution to the worsening insecurity of lives and property in the country,’’ the forum said and pledged continued cooperation with the Federal Government on the issue of national security.

    The governors prayed that God might grant the souls of Gen. Shuwa and others eternal rest and give their families and the Government of Borno State the fortitude to bear the losses.

    In a similar tribute, Senate President Mark said Gen. Shuwa’s murder was “one of the many painful acts of this unrepentant sect.”

    He said that the deceased, having fought in the civil war to preserve the nation’s unity, did not deserve to be killed by common criminals.

    Gen. Shuwa, he added, would be remembered for his doggedness and steadfastness in nation building.

    Mark, himself a retired general, said: “Without sounding like a broken sync, I urge all the leaders in the North to come together and let us find a lasting solution to the problem of these incessant killings.

    “We are the first victims of this dangerous bend in the growth of nationhood. We must therefore find a solution to this unrelenting social malaise.”

    Shuwa, 79, was shot dead at his Gwange 1, Maiduguri residence along with a guest by a four man gang as he was preparing for the jumat prayers.

    He hailed from Kala Barde Local Government area of Borno State.