BOKO HARAM SACKS 7 NORTHEAST EMIRS IN 3 MONTHS, AS MILITARY CUTS OFF FOOD SUPPLY.
As a statement to the ravaging effect of the almost five-year-old
insurgency in north-eastern Nigeria, traditional institutions, mostly in
Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states, have paid dearly for it, as presently,
half of the emirates in Borno, one each in Adamawa and Yobe are existing
without their emirs who have relocated to safer environments in the
last three months.
In Borno State, the Shehu of Borno, Abubakar
Garbai Alamin Elkanemi, now has five first-class emirs taking refuge
within his domain, after their emirates had been overrun by Boko Haram
sect.
They include the Emir of Bama, His Royal Highness Mai
Kyari Elkanemi; the Emir of Dikwa, Alhaji Abba Tor Shehu Masta; the Emir
of Gwoza, Alhaji Muhammadu Idrissa Timta, the Emir of Uba, Alhaji Ali
Ibn Ismaila Mamzam and the Emir of Askiram, Alhaji Abdullahi Askirama,
who have now relocated to Maiduguri, the state capital.
In Yobe
State, the Emir of Gujba, Alhaji Mukhtar Ibn Ali Gangaran, has fled to
Damaturu, the state capital, after Boko Haram annexed his emirate as
part of their domain, while in Adamawa State, the Emir of Mubi, with
over 24 districts under it, is currently staying in Yola, the state
capital.
Not just the emirs, but hundreds of district heads and
inhabitants of those districts have also relocated and currently taking
refuge in other safer domains. Even those few domains that the Nigerian
military have succeeded in reclaiming from the clutches of the
insurgents have not been inhabited because most have been bombed,
vandalised or burnt down.
For example, the magnificent palace of
the Shehu of Dikwa, built some five years ago after the regime of former
Borno State governor, Ali Sheriff had split the old Dikwa emirate and
relocated its headquarters from Bama to Dikwa town, is currently being
occupied by a new Shehu called Bulama Yaga, a vicious Boko Haram
kingpin.
Similarly in Bama town, the beautiful brick palace of
the Emir of Bama, that had suffered serious attacks earlier this year,
is now being occupied by one Mohammed Danjuma, who was recently crowned
as the “emir” of Bama by Boko Haram leader, Imam Abubakar Shekau.
On August 5, 2014, the historic town of Gwoza in Borno State came under
the conquests of Boko Haram terrorists, who did not only massacre
soldiers and residents, but also hoisted their flags there, as residents
fled for their lives. The conquest of Gwoza came three weeks after the
insurgents had hoisted their flags in Damboa town, where over 17,000
people were forced to flee for dear life.
Even before Boko Haram
assumed territorial control of Gwoza and Damboa towns, the insurgents
had literally sacked hundreds of villages and hamlets scattered around
Konduga, Bama, Damboa, Kala-Balge and Gwoza local government areas of
Borno State.
Though the military had been able to reclaim some of
the captured towns, Gwoza with an area that covers 2,883 km² and a
population of 276,312 people (according to the 2006 census) has remain
under Boko Haram’s control.
To the people of Damboa, a town that
is famed for being a food production hub of Borno State, Boko Haram has
destroyed virtually every structure that dotted the town and its
surrounding communities. This is because the town has been attacked
about six times.
Mubi Emirate Council which is located on the
northern fringes of Adamawa State is the second largest emirate council
in the state, consisting of five local government areas that include
Maiha, Mubi North, Mubi South, Michika and Madagali.
The town was
taken over by Boko Haram sect while the Emir of Mubi, Alhaji Abubakar
Isah Ahmadu, was in Saudi Arabia as the state Amirul Hajj. Currently,
since coming back from Hajj, the emir now resides in Yola, pending the
restoration of his emirate.
Troops Block Food, Fuel Supplies To Insurgents-controlled Areas
Meanwhile, the Nigerian military authorities have adopted new
strategies in combating the dreaded Boko Haram insurgents by cutting off
food supplies and other essentials from reaching northern parts of
Adamawa State that is under the control of the insurgents.
Reports indicated that the troops have mounted surveillance since last
week along the Yola-Mubi highway which is the gateway to the northern
parts of Adamawa State, bedevilled by insurgency.
Several trucks
carrying foodstuff, fuel and other basic commodities have been prevented
from reaching northern parts of the state in other to make life
difficult for the insurgents, a resident of the area, Mallam Shehu,
disclosed.
Our correspondent who was at the foot of the Jimeta
bridge, the only link to northern part of the state, witnessed trucks
carrying foodstuff and other essentials being turned back from
proceeding on their journey, while those coming from the northern part
to the state capital were also prevented from entering the state
capital.
Impeccable security sources revealed that the measure is
a deliberate strategy to prevent food and other essentials from
reaching the insurgents, with the hope that it will quicken the end of
the insurgency.
People of the five local government areas of
Maiha, Mubi North, Mubi South, Michika and Madagali, who are under the
control of the insurgents, have come under severe hardship, following
the restriction placed on food and petroleum products in and out of the
zone.
Security sources also said the measure has started yielding
dividends as the insurgents have been put under severe hardship,
resulting to the recapture of Gombi and Hong by government troops.
Many parts like Girei, Song, Hong and Gombi which are free from the
snares of the insurgents are said to be facing tough times following
acute shortage of gasoline, as many filling stations have been forced to
shut down.
The blockade has also made cattle herders and dealers
in foodstuff to suffer serious losses as they could not move with their
wares to mostly southern parts of the country where they could market
them.
However, the blockade which came into effect in the wake of
the recapture of Hong, Gombi and Pella recently has resulted in
friction between farmers and Fulani herdsmen, as the Fulanis who were
said to be frustrated, allowed their herds to roam into farms leading to
violent clashes that claimed about five lives
A resident of Dumme,
who simply identified himself as Mallam Inusa, said clashes between
farmers and Fulani herdsmen believed to be fleeing the fighting in Mubi
have heightened in the area following the blockade of the routes leading
to southern parts of the state by Nigerian troops.
“Five young men were killed in a skirmish involving them and some Fulani herdsmen who had encroached into their farmlands.
The fight between farmers and cattle herdsmen has increased in the area
since the herdsmen resorted to using the Dumme axis to get out of the
troubled territories to neighbouring Gombe State,” Inusa said.
The Adamawa flank remains an important conduit for the insurgents to
take supply of cash, foods and fuel through their accomplices.
A
reliable military source claimed that some of the herdsmen have been
denied their sedentary movement over suspicion by military that they are
been used by the insurgents, hence the decision to restrict their
mobility and checkmate the insurgents.
Source: #Leadership_News.
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