The authorities of Adamawa State University, Mubi, in north east Nigeria has announced indefinite closure of the institution due to the fear of possible attack from Boko Haram insurgents.This is according to Malam Hassan Tanko, Acting Registrar of the institution who made the announcement on Sunday, 7 September, 2014, in Yola.The statement, which directed students to go home, stated that the university was closed indefinitely for security reasons.Mubi, 25 kms from Gulak which was annexed Saturday by Boko Haram Islamic Caliphate, appears to be the next target for the militants.
Reports say other towns taken at the weekend by Boko Haram fighters are: Michika and Bazza.Both towns, along with Uba, are in Hong Local Government Area .It was however gathered that the sect suffered a major setback, with no fewer than 50 of its men killed in a military raid in Borno State.The Nigerian army announced on Sunday that security forces raided a “hideout” of suspected Boko Haram members in Kawuri, a village about 37km from Maiduguri, the state capital, on Saturday.
According to the military report, the suspected fighters were planning an attack.Moments after the university authorities announced the closure of the institution, residents of Mubi were said to have jam-packed the motor parks to escape from the town and students therefore found it difficult to leave the town.The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that some students of the university, told reporters that they were stranded due to residents rush to leave the town.
One of the students, who identified himself as Ali, said many commuters were now stranded in the commercial border town due to lack of vehicles.“The Motor park is now jam-packed with stranded passengers with no vehicle to move them out,” Ali said.
Another resident said: “When the insurgents met me on the road in Michika, they said I should follow them to work for Allah. They asked me to go home and prepare to follow them to fight the cause of Allah but I decided to run and hide.”
A resident of Bazza spoke of how the sect’s fighters stormed the town, “shooting sporadically, using artillery gun and other heavy weapons but from time to time Air Force jets were dropping bombs”.The Associated Press also reported on Sunday that Boko Haram fighters seized more towns along Nigeria’s northeastern border with Cameroon, quoting witnesses reports that the insurgents were adopting a new strategy of encouraging civilians to stay.
The Adamawa State Government on Saturday confirmed that the government had lost to the insurgents many towns, including Gulak and Michika.This latest report is emanating after the Nigerian military stated over the weekend that it has reclaimed Bama town in Borno State.
“Our tactical aerial attacks to reclaim this town had been effective and yielding the desired results. This will enable the fleeing residents and villagers to return within the shortest period of time,” the military said.
It would be recalled that the fight for Bama had lasted for about a week with little information provided on the issue. While some sources claimed the town had been freed, others insisted it was still under control of insurgents.
No comments:
Post a Comment