The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Yobe

  • Boko Haram: Victims Support Fund signs N60m MoU with three hospitals in Borno, Yobe

    The Nigerian Foundation for the Support of Victims of Terrorism,otherwise called Victims Support Fund (VSF), has signed a memorandum of understanding with three hospitals for the treatment and care of victims of terror in Borno and Yobe states.

    The MoU, which was signed at separate times within the week by the Executive Director of the Foundation, Prof. Sunday Abogonye Ochoche, in Maiduguri and Damaturu, also gave a cheque of N20 million each to the three hospitals.

    The beneficiary hospitals include the Borno State Specialist Hospital Maiduguri, the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital and the Gen. Sani Abatcha Specialist Hospital, Damaturu in Yobe State.

    Ochoche at separate signing ceremonies in Maiduguri and Damaturu, urged the management of the hospitals to use the funds judiciously for the care of victims of terror attacks in the states.

    He said the desire of the VSF is to make sure that all the hospitals are assisted to perform at their minimum best in taking care of victims of terror attacks.

    He said: “We at the Victims Support Funds are aware that we cannot meet all the challenges that your hospitals face in the treatment of victims of terror attacks. However, the presentation that we are making is to assist you in delivering better services to victims of terror attacks who are usually brought to your hospitals.

    “We are aware that over time, when these attacks occur, your facilities are over-stretched and therefore this kind of support is crucial for the provision of equipment, drugs and facilitates for improved service delivery to the victims.”

    He described the donations as just a small element of the good things that are in stock for the victims of Boko Haram attacks, adding that the foundation’s attention at the moment is geared towards the rehabilitation of women and the provision of good and sustainable education for the orphans of insurgency.

    He also announced that seven hospitals are benefitting from the programme with majority coming from the North East, comprising Borno, Yobe, Gombe and Adamawa in the first phase while the second phase will comprise Taraba, Bauchi and Plateau states.

    Dr. Abdulrahaman Tahir, the Chief Medical Director of UMTH; Dr. Salisu Kwaya Kura of the Borno Specialist Hospital and Dr. Garba Musa Fika all signed the MoU on behalf of their hospitals. They all promised to use the funds for the purpose it was meant for.

  • Flood destroys communities in Yobe

    Thousands of people have been displaced, following a downpour in two communities in Yobe State.

    The rain, which began late on Monday night and stopped yesterday, rendered residents of Ngelzarma and Jajare in Fune Local Government homeless.

    Reports said nobody died. Deputy Governor Abubakar Aliyu visited the victims and sympathised with them.

    He directed the Ministry of Works to assess the area and come up with a solution.

    Aliyu instructed the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) to provide a palliative for the victims, who are temporarily camped at a primary school in the community.

    The SEMA Executive Secretary, Idi Jidawa, told our correspondent on the phone that he had despatched two teams to Ngelzarma and Jajare to provide succour.

    He said: “The flood in Jajare is serious. My team could not access the village from the route they followed. They will have to take another route tomorrow to get to the village. From the report I gathered, the village has been submerged.”

     

     

     

     

  • Flood destroys two communities in Yobe

    Thousands of people have been displaced by heavy down pour in two communities in Yobe State.

    The heavy rain which started late on Monday night through the early hours of Tuesday sacked Ngelzarma and Jajare communities all in Fune Local Government area of Yobe State.

    According to reports, no life was lost in the two incidents but eyewitnesses informed that more than half of Ngelzarma community a village located on the Damaturu/Potiskum road less than 50km away from Damaturu was affected.

    The State Deputy Governor Engr. Abubakar Aliyu visited the people and sympathised with them over the disaster.

    He directed the ministry of works to take an accurate and professional assessment of the area so as to come up with a lasting solution to the problem.

    Engr. Aliyu also asked the State Emergency Management Agency to provide immediate palliative for the victims who are temporarily camped at the primary school in the community.

    The Executive Secretary of SEMA Idi Jidawa, told our correspondent on phone that he has already dispatched two teams to Ngelzarma and Jajare and that priority is currently on the provision of shelter for the displaced people.

    Jidawa also informed that “the flood in Jajare is so severe that my team to the area could not access the village from the route they followed. They will have to take another route tomorrow to access the village. From what I gathered, the entire village has been surrounded by water,” the SEMA boss said.

     

  • Update: 19 dead, 47 injured in fresh Damaturu suicide attack

    Update: 19 dead, 47 injured in fresh Damaturu suicide attack

    At least 19 people have been confirmed dead in the suicide attack on a market in Damaturu, the Yobe State capital.
    Another 47 are lying critically injured at the General Sani Abatcha Specialist Hospital.
    One of the dead people was identified as a female vigilante who was screening people into the market. She was said to have died instantly as the bomb went off.
    The Medical Director of Gen. Sani Abatcha Specialist Hospital Dr. Garba Fika confirmed the casualty figure to our correspondent.
    He added that two of the victims are undergoing surgery while another two have been referred to Federal Medical Centre Nguru for advance medical care.
    ” From the report that I got, we have 19 dead bodies and 47 injured. Two of the victims are going for surgery while another two have been moved to Federal Medical Centre Nguru,” Dr. Fika stated.
    The Yobe State Police Public Relation Officer ASP Toyin Gbadegesin said the explosive was triggered by a teenage girl of about ten years old.
    He also dismissed speculations that no arrest have been made in connection with the attack.
    The attack according to eyewitness was led by a female suicide bomber who diffused her explosive cladded body that sent a loud sound across the city.
    The attack occurred at about 9.30 am at the popular Sunday Market which is one of the most well attending markets in the metropolis that normally on Sunday.
    Mohammed Ali a vigilante in Damaturu informed that the female bomber pretended to be waiting behind a truck pusher who was being checked on his way into the market and in the process exploded killing their female member who was screening people into the market.
    He dismissed reports that the bomber was a mad woman who was identified.
    “Whoever told you that the bomber is mad is a lie. She is not a mad woman. Nobody knows her around here. No one has seen her before. She came and stood at the back of one kus-kus(local wheelbarrow) that our people were checking. Before they could finish with the kus-kus, she diffused the bomb killing all these people that you see here.
    “Look at that woman,(pointing to one of the female dead bodies)she is our member who was at the gate of the market when the explosion went off,” he informed.

  • Suicide bomber kills 15 in Yobe

    A suicide bomber has killed 15 persons in Damaturu, Yobe state at the entrance of the Sunday market.
    The bomber who was said to be a woman cladded explosives on her body and detonated one of the bombs killing a female vigilante who was screening people into the market.

  • Boko Haram not in control of any LG in Yobe

    Yobe State Government has clarified media reports that Boko Haram insurgents are in control of five local governments areas in the state.
    In a statement signed by Abdullahi Bego, the Director of Press Affairs to Governor Ibrahim Gaidam noteed that the reports were misleading and totally out of context of the governors brief to the National Economic Council meeting.
    The statement reads:
    “The attention of His Excellency Governor Ibrahim Gaidam has been drawn to news reports in several mainstream and online media that he and his Borno State counterpart, His Excellency Governor Kashim Shettima, have told the National Economic Council meeting which took place last Wednesday under the chairmanship of His Excellency the Vice President that ‘five local government areas in the two states are still under Boko Haram control’.

    “These reports are misleading and totally out of the purview of the brief that His Excellency Governor Gaidam gave to the National Economic Council regarding the security situation in Yobe State.

    “While security is still a concern and more work needs to be done, there is not a single local government council in Yobe under the sway or control of the insurgent Boko Haram.

    “In the course of his brief to the National Economic Council, His Excellency Governor Gaidam has recounted a point in time when two out of the 17 local government areas of the State had come under the pale of Boko Haram. That was several months ago.

    “Governor Gaidam has noted, however, that as a result of the gallant and salutary intervention of our nation’s armed forces and other security agencies, those two local government areas, namely Gujba and Gulani, were freed and liberated from insurgent stranglehold.

    “His Excellency the governor did of course ask for additional troops and weaponry to be deployed to Yobe State. He made this request only within the context of the need to sustain the momentum against Boko Haram and ensure that terrorists and insurgents are denied a chance to further harm our people.

    “His Excellency Governor Gaidam has said many times – and it bears repeating – that our armed forces and other security agents are doing a commendable job under very challenging circumstances. Their determination to root out Boko Haram and free our State from terrorist, insurgent and criminal activity is not in doubt. This determination is further reinforced by His Excellency President Muhammadu Buhari with the recent changes he made in the military high command and the unprecedented weight that his administration has brought to bear in the fight against Boko Haram.

    “The Government and people of Yobe State will continue to support and partner the federal government and our gallant security forces as they step up effort to restore peace and security in Yobe State, the Northeast and the country in general,” the statement read.

  • Police recover more explosives in Yobe

    Police recover more explosives in Yobe

    The police in Damaturu, the Yobe State capital, said they have recovered more explosives in one of the vehicles of the suicide bombers arrested at a checkpoint in Damaturu two days ago.

    Police Commissioner Marcus Danladi told reporters at a news briefing that after a thorough search by men of the Explosive Ordinance Department (EOD) of the command on the scene of the attack, more explosives and arms were recovered.

    He said: “Besides the high calibre military bombs recovered from the body of the female member of the suicide squad, on Tuesday investigators were sent to the scene with police EOD experts to evacuate the carcasses for investigation.

    “Upon evaluation by the EOD men, six units of military mortal bombs and two heavy (50kg) improvised bombs, carefully concealed and primed, were recovered from the carcasses.”

    Danladi said two military GPMG; general purpose machine gun; 500 live ammunition of GPMG; two units of Ak 47 assault rifles and two magazines of Ak 47 rifles were recovered from the scene.

    The CP said the insurgents had an encounter with the police at Bara in Gulani Local Government.

    He condoled with the families of the policemen, who died during the suicide attack.

  • Suicide bomber kills 5 in Church

    A male suicide bomber has killed five people, including a woman with her baby at a church in Jigawa area, outskirts of Potiskum, Yobe state.

    According to eyewitness, a tricycle rider dropped off the bomber at the church premises where he disguised as a worshiper before carrying out his mission.

    A rescue worker who does not want to be mentioned informed that one of the victims, a woman was killed with a baby strapped on her back.

    The Church is one of the out-reach station of the Redeemed Christian Church of God .

    A source at the Potiskum General Hospital told our correspondent that five people were brought in dead with one person injured.

    “We have received five dead bodies plus the suicide bomber. Only one person is injured,” the source informed.

  • Red Cross feeds IDPs in Yobe

    On Monday when 5500 Internally Displaced Persons or IDPs got relief materials in Damaturu, the Yobe State capital, everyone in the city knew that something remarkable was happening. An unusual traffic gridlock built up around the central Roundabout area of the town. Commercial tricycle operators made brisk business ferrying food items meant for the IDPs.

    The food items were distributed by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

    The 300-meter gridlock at the Ministry Integrated Rural Development area caused a nightmare for motorists in the town. After the first day of the distribution, word got out to others, which was why the entire section of the road swarmed with IDPs queuing up day after day to collect the relief materials.

    Not everyone who came got the relief items materials as the Red Cross and the ICRC had already registered a total of 8500 displaced people in the State.

    As part of its considered objective of responding to the consequences of armed violence, ICRC through its humanitarian initiatives provides displaced persons with basic household necessities, such as cooking utensils, hygiene items, bedding and mosquito nets. They also provide and distribute shelter materials, food and clothing to help them cope during the most vulnerable period of their displacement.

    A field official of the ICRS who provided some information about the distribution in the state but asked not to be quoted informed that a total of 8500 displaced families will benefit from the scheme. Out of the number, 5500 are from Damaturu, 3000 from Potiskum.

    Each beneficiary, according to him, will go home with three bags of rice; three bags of beans; two packs of salt and bottles of oil as the food materials while the non-food relief materials include soap; mats; sanitary towel; blanket; mosquito nets; bucket; kitchen sets and tarpaulin.

    The officer further explained that his organization had initially embarked on a comprehensive and coordinated process before arriving at the figure.

    “We initially embarked on what we call map-out, then the registration of the IDPs. After that, we take a need assessment of the displaced people [who] we then issue a permit card for each of the persons accredited or screened in the family.

    “Without this process, you cannot benefit from what we are giving out unfortunately even if you are genuinely a displaced person. You have to be captured through this process,” the source explained.

    With the distribution coinciding with the holy month of Ramadan and  more than half of the population of the state fasting as Yobe being a predominantly  Muslim state, the number of the displaced people kept on swelling as many that were not registered also evaded the distribution that lasted for one week.

    Those who got the materials were however full of praises to Red Cross. Throughout the town, commendations have been pouring on the organisation even from non-beneficiaries.

    “Anybody that has seen these materials that Red Cross has provided for these displaced people will know that our government (both state and Federal) are only paying lips service to the care of the IDPs in the state,” a civil servant in the state who does not want his name mentioned, said.

    Lawan Gudusu, a 60-year-old displaced blind man from Goniri in Gujba Local Government area of Yobe State, married to three wives and has 12 children, was happy when a Red Cross volunteer told him the list of items he collected.

    “Haba, they gave us all those items? That will take care of us for a long time. This is the best thing that has happened to my family during this fasting. We have been surviving on very little ration that I normally go out and get from public-spirited people through begging.

    “It has not been easy but with what we have now from these people (ICRC); it can take us through the fasting period. Whoever decided to provide this for us will see Aljanna  (heaven),” Gudusu said.

    Lubabatu Sani, 35, who has seven children, said she has not seen this kind of help from anywhere since they were displaced from their hometown in Goniri and relocated to Damaturu where they have been taking refuge for the past one year.

    “To say the truth, since the problem of Boko Haram started, different people and individuals have been giving us help but I cannot compare this particular one to any of those. This help is truly coming from people with a good heart and intentions and Allah will reward them abundantly,” she said.

    Like Lawan Gudusu, Bintu Molima a widow with 9 children has been barely surviving during the fasting period. Her husband was brutally murdered in front of her house in the presence of four of their children at Katarko.  According to her, the relief materials she got are just “timely and Allah’s design”.

    “This help I can say is designed from Allah to save people like us that have no hope. I lost my husband to Boko Haram when they slaughtered him like a goat in my presence with four of my children watching. It has not been easy (she broke down into tears)”.

    Information available indicate that what is been provided for the displaced people is only for a ration of one month and that the ICRC will still be back to carry out what it refers to as Post Distribution Monitoring (PDM) to determine the impact of the materials on the IDPs and also see the need of subtracting items not need or adding those that may desire their dire need.

    Our correspondent observed that apart from the food and non food materials that the ICRC has provided, it has also provided job opportunities for some of the able displaced youths working in the distribution unit of the program with some Daily Wage allowances.

    Commercial tricyclists are also feasting on the available market being provided at the venue of the distribution. It was gathered that some of the tricyclists normally come out around 4.00am to queue up so as to make money.

    One of the tricyclists informed that they normally collect not less than N1000 per drop depending on which part of the town the beneficial would be going to.

    “This is good business for us. The least that we do collect from one person is N1000. Some people pay more than that depending on which direction you are going to. It is good business for us because one drop is N50 and before you get N1000, you must have burnt so much petrol so it’s better to queue up here,” he said.

    Our correspondent also observed that security is very tight at the distribution centre. While the soldiers and police battle with screening the tricycle operators before the gain entrance into the venue, the main venue is saturated with sniffer dogs and bomb detective experts that continually combs as a proactive measure of averting any unforeseen danger.

  • Yobe to conduct local govt polls

    THE Chairman of Yobe State Independent Electoral Commission (YBSIEC), Mohammed Jauro Abdu has said that the commission will use the card reader for the conduct of the local government elections.

    Jauro, who spoke with reporters in Damaturu, the state capital, said the commission will take a queue from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to use the card reader due to the credibility the technology brought to the recent general elections in the country.

    “I believe the use of the card reader by INEC in the last general elections in the country has brought a lot of credibility to the electoral process. We are therefore, poised to replicate that in our local government elections, which is coming up before the end of this year.

    “I feel that Yobe should take adavantage of this good technology and set the pace for being the first state to conduct a local government elections with the INEC Card Readers. Don’t ask me if we are going to procure our own card readers. No. we have already concluded arrangement with the INEC and they would release to us the number that we require for the exercise,” Jauro added.

    The electoral officer also disclosed that his commission has gone far on the arrangement for the smooth conduct of the local government elections. “I already have my timetable for the election but I will not release to you until the time is ripe for me to do so”.

    The last local government elections in the state were conducted in December 2013.

    The tenure of the current local government chairmen in the state expires in December 2015, as expected by the law; elections are expected to be held not less than thirty days to the expiration of their tenure.