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Tag: Yobe killings

  • Yobe killings: NOSCEF calls for actions

    •Uche expresses outrage

    The Northern States Christian Elders Forum (NOSCEF) has called on security forces to halt further killings in the Northeast.

    It said last week’s killing of over 50 boys at the Federal Government College of BuniYadi Yobe State was a crime against humanity and an attack on all Nigerians.

    The group, in a statement by its president, Olaiya Phillips and National secretary, Barrister Emmanuel Subilim, said: “This slaughter of the innocent is just the latest and worst example of Boko Haram’s violence, cruelty and hatred for all the people of Nigeria – Christian and Muslim.

    “This is more than a tragedy for BuniYadi and Yobe State. This is an attack on all Nigeria and all Nigerians. It is a crime against humanity itself.”

    It added: “No child, no family, no citizen should have to rely on God’s mercy alone for protection from these killers. We rightly expect the armed forces to prevent these outrages and protect our children and ourselves from these terrorists.

    “Yet, while Buni Yadi’s children were being butchered in their beds, the Chiefs of Nigeria’s Armed Services were sleeping.

    “We demand that the Chief of Defence Staff, Air Marshal Alex Badeh, urgently lives up to President Goodluck Jonathan’s orders and ensures none of the army are sleeping at their post until the lives of peaceful Christian and Muslims across Northern Nigeria are properly protected.”

    The Prelate of the Methodist Church Nigeria, His Eminence Dr Samuel Uche, expressed ‘great shock and sadness over the gruesome attacks.

    In his reaction made public by the Church’s Media and Public Relations Officer, Rev. Oladapo Daramola, Uche said: “The targeting of children is heinous and unthinkable.”

    He added: “This was a senseless loss of innocent young lives, especially since schools should be sanctuaries for our children.

    “These children are innocent, full of life and promise but cut down in a hail of bullets in a preventable ‘act of terror.”

    “We’re going to have to come together and take meaningful action to prevent more tragedies like this, regardless of the politics and our religious biases.

    “We have had too many deaths all different acts of terror and yet, we seem to have no clear-cut direction on how we intend to put a stop to this madness.

    “It saddens me to see that no one is being brought to justice in all of these evil acts as if the perpetrators are ghosts and not men like us. Until the promoters of these satanic events are unmasked and brought to book, these attacks may continue unabated.”

  • NLC seeks new approach to fight insurgency

    NLC seeks new approach to fight insurgency

    The President of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Abdulwaheed Omar, has called for a new approach to fight the Boko Haram insurgency in parts of the north.

    Omar said this in Calabar on Friday while reacting to the recent killing of some students of the Federal Government College in Yobe by suspected Boko Haram members.

    The NLC president was in Calabar for the 4th Quadrennial Delegates Conference of the National Union of Printing, Publishing and Paper Products Workers and a meeting of the NLC.

    ‘’We call on government to have a rethink over what they do.

    “There is nothing wrong in Nigerian government coming up with special task force with a special squad to ensure that we get to the root of the matter and it is unbundled and be brought to an end,’’ the News Agency of Nigeria quoted Omar as saying at the forum.

    He condemned the killing of innocent students by the insurgents, describing the action as “callous and unreasonable.”

    “To go to the level of very innocent students who don’t even know what is happening, just massacre them, set their buildings on fire and so on.

    “ I think this is a very serious issue and it is unacceptable to Nigerian workers, ‘’ he said.

    He urged the government to set up a special intelligence unit for combating terrorism.

    “I think we need to train people specially in the area of intelligence and in the area of combating this kind of terrorism.

    “Let them be seriously trained and let them be sent to all nooks and crannies of the nation where they can be able to tap information, so that we can stop this callous killing of innocent citizens, ‘’ Omar said.

     

  • UNICEF condemns Yobe killings

    The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) on Thursday condemned the killing of 45 children by unidentified gunmen at the Federal Government College, Buni Yadi, Yobe.

    This is contained in a statement signed by the Head, Media and External Relations of UNICEF, Mr. Geoffrey Njoku, in Abuja.

    UNICEF said attacks on children and schools were unacceptable under any circumstances as such deprived them to their right to education and basic needs to life.

    “We condemn in the strongest possible terms this vicious attack on students.

    “Many young lives were lost, many more students and teachers were deprived of their right to education. Attacks on children and schools are unacceptable,” the News Agency of Nigeria quoted the agency as saying in the statement.

    It expressed UNICEF’s deep concern on the repeated attacks on schools in the North East.

    “Since June 2013, four attacks resulted in school closures affecting thousands of students, many of whom have had no access to formal learning for months.

    “When a school is under attack and students become targets, not only their lives are shattered, the future of the nation is stolen,” it said.

     

  • PDP condemns massacre of Yobe pupils

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has condemned Tuesday’s killing of 43 pupils of the Federal Government College, Buni Yadi in Yobe State by the Boko Haram insurgents.

    In a statement on Wednesday by its National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh, the party described the attack and killing of the harmless pupils as monstrous and extremely shocking.

    The statement said, “The massacre of these harmless students cannot be justified under any guise. Indeed, the PDP is heart-broken and extremely devastated by this act of wickedness which can only be associated with the devil.

    “The PDP bleeds inside as we mourn the slaughtering of these promising young ones. Our hearts go out to the parents and families of these innocent students.

    “We share in their anguish, their pain and their despair and we earnestly pray that those behind this act must not escape judgment for spilling the blood of the innocent. No man commits such wickedness and gets away with it.”

    The party called on Nigerians to unite against terrorism, irrespective of diversities in religious or political affiliations.

    It commended President Goodluck Jonathan for the measures so far applied in fighting insurgency in the country and urged the people to continue to pray for the nation and to give useful information to the security agencies.

     

  • Yobe killings: Open declaration of war on Nigerians – Mark

    Yobe killings: Open declaration of war on Nigerians – Mark

    Senate President David Mark on Wednesday condemned the gruesome murder in cold blood of students of the Federal Government College, Buni, Yadi, in Gujba Local Government Area of Yobe State.

    Mark in a statement issued by his Chief Press Secretary, Paul Mumeh, in Abuja lamented that the insurgents have no justification to kill students who neither offended them nor committed any crime, saying that “even in war situations, children and women were always spared.”

    He described the killings as an open declaration of war on Nigerians which he said cannot be justified.

    Scores of students were brutally murdered by gunmen believed to be Boko Haram insurgents in the wee hours of Monday while asleep in their hostels.

    Mark said, “This open declaration of war on everybody especially defenseless students cannot be justified. This is inhuman, it is animalistic and barbaric. It is unthinkable that this is happening in Nigeria.

    “It is also curious that under an emergency rule when security operatives should be on red alert. This mayhem still persists. Honestly, this calls for soul searching and I believe the security authorities must rise to this challenge.”

    He sympathized with the government and people of Yobe State especially the families of the bereaved, saying that the terror is not just national but an international threat that calls for bravery on the part of every one to confront.

    Mark also condoled with the government and people of Benue State over the unabating killings in parts of the state on account of clashes between Fulani herdsmen and farmers.

    No fewer than 10,000 persons are said to have been displaced in Benue as a result of the clashes.

    A Mark in the message to Benue State Governor, Gabriel Suswam , called for peaceful coexistence and good neighborliness.

    He sympathized with the victims and requested security operatives to take appropriate measures to halt the trend in order to restore normalcy to the affected communities.

     

  • Killings: NHRC seeks relocation of Unity Schools’ students

    The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has suggested a temporary relocation of pupils of the eight Unity Schools in the three troubled Northeastern states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe to other schools outside the region.

    The commission’s position is informed by incessant killings of school children in the states by the Boko Haram sect, particularly the reported killing, on Monday, of 29 pupils at the Federal Government College, (FGC) Buni-Yadi.

    In statement on Wednesday, the, NHRC’s Chairman, Chidi Odinkalu, described the development as alarming and saddening. He urged both political and religious leaders in the region to speak up and take actions to discourage violence in the area.

    Odinkalu urged the government to implement existing reports on how to ensure peace in the region.

    “There is no way to minimize the shock and tragedy of these events. The perpetrators clearly do not wish Nigeria well. Words are not enough to condemn them and their conduct. To the parents of the affected children, words are equally insufficient comfort or condolence. This is every parent’s worst nightmare. Condolences are also due to the Government and People of Yobe State and to the Federal Government.

    “Education is a basic right guaranteed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, and the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

    “These children were pursuing this right when they were killed. The pursuit of education cannot be cause for the mass murder of innocent children.”

     

  • Yobe death toll still 29 – PTA chairman

    Yobe death toll still 29 – PTA chairman

    The Chairman of Parents Teachers’ Association of Federal Government College, Buni Yadi, Engr. Mohammed Kati Machina, has described as misleading the arbitrary figures of Monday night attack, presented by the media.

    The PTA chairman, who spoke exclusively with The Nation in Damaturu, maintained that the attack death toll still stands at 29.

    “We have an authentic report from the hospital and what we gathered is that only 29 students were killed. 21 students were killed by gunshots while eight were burnt. 11 were injured and three were admitted at the specialist hospital in Damaturu.

    “Some of the injured students have been taken away by their parents. Out of the 10 dead bodies that were brought to Damaturu, two were burnt beyond recognition,” Engr. Machina explained.

    The PTA chairman called on the Federal Government to provide security around all schools in the country especially Yobe and Borno States.

    He extended his condolences to the families that lost their children in the attack.

     

  • UN chief condemns Yobe killings

    UN chief condemns Yobe killings

    United Nations Secretary-General, Ban Ki-Moon, has strongly condemned the brutal killing of students at the Federal Government College, Buni Yadi, in Yobe.

    The condemnation is contained in a statement issued on Wednesday in New York.

    It expressed sincere condolences to the bereaved families and hoped that the perpetrators would be “swiftly brought to justice.”

    “The secretary-general is deeply concerned about the increasing frequency and brutality of attacks against educational institutions in the north of the country.

    “He reiterates that no objective can justify such violence,” the statement said.

    On Tuesday, President Goodluck Jonathan condemned the killings, calling them “heinous, brutal and mindless.”

    The News Agency of Nigeria reports that Yobe is one of three north eastern states along with Borno and Adamawa put under emergency rule last May by President Jonathan as the military continues to combat the insurgency in the area.

     

  • Yobe killings: FG to tighten security around federal colleges

    Yobe killings: FG to tighten security around federal colleges

    Following the killing of some students of the Federal Government College, Buni-Yadi, Yobe, on Tuesday, the Federal Government has said it will improve security around federal unity colleges in the country.

    This is contained in a statement issued by Mr. Simeon Nwakaudu, the Special Assistant (Media) to the Supervising Minister of Education, Chief Nyesom Wike on Tuesday.

    It said Wike, who condemned the attack on the innocent students, said the ministry would continue “to liaise with security agencies and relevant stakeholders to improve security around all federal unity colleges.”

    According to the statement, the minister, after receiving the news of the terrorist attack, immediately reached out to the management and staff of the school to commiserate with them.

    Wike also commiserated with the families of the bereaved and prayed God to grant the bereaved families the strength to bear the unfortunate loss.

    The News Agency of Nigeria reports that insurgents on Monday attacked the college at about 11.30pm, killing 43 students.

     

  • Yobe killings: You’re chasing shadows, Atiku tells FG

    Yobe killings: You’re chasing shadows, Atiku tells FG

    Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has said that efforts being made by the Federal Government and the security agencies in the fight against the Boko Haram insurgency appear to be ineffective.

    Atiku was reacting to the killing on Tuesday of about 40 pupils of the Federal Government College, Buni Yadi, in Gujiba Local Government Area of Yobe State

    It was the latest in the sect’s chain of bloody attacks on soft targets in recent times.

    The heavily armed attackers were reported to have stormed the school’s hostels in a predawn attack that lasted a few hours, leaving tears, blood and anguish in their tail.

    The statement said in part: “All the Federal Government had been doing about addressing the security situation in the North-east region of the country amounts to mere chasing of shadows if school walls cannot be protected from armed attacks.

    “This will not be the first time in recent times that school children are being attacked, and it is particularly disheartening that the Federal Government is yet to devise a strategy of keeping our schools safe from terror attacks.

    “If our counter-insurgency strategies are not strong enough to keep our children safe inside their schools, then one must wonder if such a strategy isn’t mere chasing of shadows.

    Atiku was said to have been particularly miffed by a statement made by President Goodluck Jonathan at his Monday’s Presidential Media Chat; to the effect that the government had been successful at pushing armed attacks to the fringes of the country.

    “It is important that the Federal Government upped its counter-insurgency strategy and desist from taking credits in pushing armed attacks to the fringes, as the president would like to put it. No Nigerian’s life is less in value to another,” the former vice president stated.

    He added that it was imperative for government to ensure security in schools, particularly Federal Government Colleges because of what he described as their unique role in forging national unity among pupils from diverse backgrounds in the country.

    A statement released by his media office, said Atiku broke down in tears when he was informed of the killing of the pupils.

    “My heartfelt condolences go to families of the slain school pupils. It is unfortunate that innocent school children become victims of armed attacks,” he moaned.