Army Closes Nigeria borders

In accordance to Federal Government Tuesday’s declaration of state of emergency in three states in the north east and subsequent directive to deploy troops to the affected states, the Nigerian Armed Forces, the Police and other security agencies have commenced operations to rid the nation’s border territories of terrorist bases and activities.

This development is aside massive deployment of troops, armoured tanks, combat helicopters and other military hardware  into Maiduguri, the Borno state capital which continued yesterday with divisions of the security forces taking strategic positions at the areas identified as epicentres of the Boko Haram insurgent group.

Our correspondents reported that that the large scale military deployment which actually started since Monday, has caused fears and apprehension among the residents of the town even as Governor Kashim Shettima in a state-wide radio and television broadcast last night urged citizens to remain calm and pray for God’s intervention in the security challenges plaguing the state.

It was gathered that well over 3000 troops have been deployed so far to Borno state to complete the efforts of the about 5,000 members of the Joint Military Task Force (JTF) in on ground.

It was also observed that the newly deployed security forces who arrived in heavy duty military vehicles and patrol vans, were being stationed temporarily at the JTF headquarters at the Pomponari Ward, for documentation and other formalities.

Army fortifies borders

Given the reported porous nature of the nation’s borders, the the Director of Defence Information, Brig-Gen Chris Olukolade, said in a statement yesterday military operation across the borders will focus on tracking down criminal elements within communities prone to terrorist activities.

The statement also explained the operations which will involve massive deployment of men and resources is aimed at asserting the nation’s territorial integrity and enhancing the security of constituted governmental structures in all territories within Nigeria’s borders.

According to Olukolade, the operational plans have briefed participating troops appropriately on arrests, cordon and search, especially directed at apprehending those who have been violating sovereignty of Nigeria through terrorist training, for insurgency and related activities.

The statement noted that the operation is expected to put an end to insurgent activities in these parts of the country.

Olukolade assured law abiding citizens that every effort has been put in place to ensure safety of civilians and non-combatants while the operation lasts while urging them to cooperate with troops and supply necessary information on criminal and terrorist activities or movement in their localities as the operation is intended to safeguard the nation’s interests and citizens in all parts of the Federation.

Hunting down Borno insurgents begins

However as at yesterday, the soldiers, backed by over 30 armoured tanks and armoured personnel carriers were divided into four groups and despatched to Marte, Mafa, Gamborou-Ngala and Bama local government areas which are the epicentres of the insurgency, security sources said.

Beside Bama which is located in Borno central zone, all the other areas are within the northern senatorial zone of the state.

It was also learnt that another set of troop was moved to the Sambisa Games Reserve, in Damboa local government council, in the southern part of the state, where the insurgents are suspected to have set up a base and training camp.

Peoples Daily observed that the troops in over a 100 patrol vehicles moved towards Mafa axis, causibg serious traffick jam along the  highway.

The impending crack down on the insurgents is expected to be the peak of Federal Government’s determination to flush out the militants as the troops were directed to extend deadly operations deep into the desert where the gunmen are suspected to be hiding, a security source said.

Despite the massive movements of military personnel, the atmosphere in Maiduguri was not as tensed as residents were seen going about their normal activities unhindered.

And contrary earlier fears, the normal security situation remained unchanged, our correspondent further observed.

Meanwhile, some residents of the city who expressed their opinions on the emergency rule aid that they have been living under  “state of emergency” for the last two years, describing the action as not strange.

“I don’t think there is any difference between what we were experiencing before and what we are seeing now after the declaration of state of emergency as the conditions have always been there.

“The checkpoints, the restriction of movement, the fear, so, there is really no difference”, a resident, who gave his namd as Ari Madu told our reporter.

Shettima commends Jonathan, urges calm

Also yesterday, Shettima in the broadcast solicited for more prayers from entire residents, for the restoration of peace to the state even as he urged them to support and cooperate with all the security agencies who are charged with the sole responsibility of tackling the Boko Haram insurgency.

According to the Governor, “in this trying moment, I urge everybody to fervently pray for the return of peace to our dear Borno state and in all other parts of Nigeria, to pave the way for rapid recovery and the socio-economic transformation that we so desperately seek to put in place as a government.”

He commended Jonathan for exercising his constitutional powers to proclaim the state of emergency in the area, as he explained that the development followed the spate of killings and destructions of property which ravaged the state.

As Shettima put it, “it is the constitutional responsibility of the President to take such measures and it is also the duty of any responsible state government to support lawful efforts that will guarantee the security of lives and property.

“It can never be the wish of any democratic government to have the military directly involved in the affairs of any federating unit except for unfortunate and painful causes.

“As the military leaders have said in discourses, the armory of the Nigerian soldiers is not meant to fight fellow Nigerians, the armory is meant to protect fellow Nigerians.

“I have directed the State Ministry of Home Affairs, Information and Culture to work out public safety enlightenment programmes that should be regularly featured on the Borno state Television and Radio while I urge our partners and friends in other media organizations resident in the state to help in educating citizens on public conducts at this different time that we face together.”

Senators canvass divergent views

Senators yesterday canvassed divergent views on the proclamation of emergency rule in the Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states as Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, said that though the measure was a  welcomed development in the interim, the nation needs to find a lasting solution to its security challenges.

In a statement issued by his Special Adviser on media, Uche Anichukwu, Ekwerenmadu advocated for reorganization of Nigeria’s policing system to guarantee the security of lives and property of Nigerians.

According to Ekwerenmadu, “while a state of emergency is welcome as a first aid in tackling the security challenges, my stand has always been that we have to reappraise how we organize our national security as a federal entity, especially our policing system to guarantee the security of lives and property in every part of the country.”

While expressing hope that the step would not only help to arrest the escalating insecurity in the affected states, he noted that it will also correct the misgivings about emergency rule arising from previous unconstitutional approaches to implementation of emergency rule.

In a similar development, Senator Ali Ndume who hails from Borno state claimed that the Senate did not know the content of the emergency declaration.

“We hope that this is not going to be like adding salt to injury and we hope that it is part of the extraordinary measures that government has to take in order to bring an end to this problem. he said.

“But now, the Commander-in-Chief has taken over direct charge through either his representative or whatever to ensure security in those places.

“In other words, it is like the Armed Forces taking over from the civil police that are charged with the responsibility,” he said.

But Senator Victor Lar, said that the President had not done anything that is sanctioned by the Constitution.

He however said that from experience of what happened in Plateau, declaration of state of emergency rule does not work to effectively bring about peace.

Lar explained that it does not work in the sense that during the declaration in Plateau, the state kept experiencing insurrections, arguing that the essence of that declaration was for the President to have the platform to channel resources and deploy security apparatus in a manner that would put the situation under control.

“I would not want to be pessimistic but we hope that some of those pitfalls like non-payment of salary of workers of local governments that we experienced in Plateau State would not be replicated in the three States.

“Like the non-funding and assistance of States government with the funds for funding security operations would not be repeated in those other States.”, he said.

Meanwhile, he expressed hope that the declaration would bring lasting peace to the affected States, calling on the security operatives to be prepared to rise up to the operational exigencies that may crop up in the course of executing the emergency.

Meanwhile, the official letter notifying the National Assembly of the decision to declare a state of emergency in the three states is expected to be received tomorrow by the lawmakers for consideration and approval.

State of emergency to safeguard the nation’s sovereignty, says Tukur

Meanwhile, the PDP National Chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, yesterday explained why Jonathan resolved to declare a state of emergency in Adamawa state.

Speaking while receiving some journalists from Kaduna, Tukur said the consideration of the government was that since Borno and Adamawa are geographically contiguous, it made a lot of sense to engage terrorists within the zones broadly in an attempt to break their network and areas of stronghold.

According to him, both the southern Borno and the northern Adamawa share close affinity in social life, ethnicism, religion, commerce and trade, such that the government needed to create a corridor and a buffer zone for engaging the terrorists in the two axis.

Tukur said it was incumbent on the Federal Government to recourse to a preventive approach even in the fight against terrorists, a reason he said Adamawa fell in the list of states of the north to be safely protected if the State of Emergency should work.

He said: “Mr. President took the last option of declaring a State of Emergency because the terrorist were becoming more daring. “They were even planning to declare a state of their own and these happened because many of us believed that the menace of terrorism has been a problem for the north alone.”

Tukur also called on all the governors of the federation to monitor heir borders so as to guide against spill over from the affected states as the security agencies deployed would flush the insurgents out. He urged them to join in the war against insurgents for the emergency declared to work effectively.

According to him, Borno, Yobe and  states  would be feeling the heat of the State of Emergency at the moment, all states of the federation must begin to guard their boarders, as a proactive measure for limiting the scope and space for operations of terrorists.