Residents want troops to remain in Borno communities
‘Boko Haram attacks have raised cases of cardiac arrest, others’
THERE was pandemonium in Birnin Gwari Local Council Area of Kaduna State Thursday when gunmen invaded some of the villages, killing several people and injuring others.
It took the intervention of armed soldiers who engaged the gunmen before they fled.
The resultant gun duel involving the soldiers and the insurgents at Kwasakwasa Village in Birnin Gwari Council Area led to the death of two soldiers, while many of the armed gunmen were killed.
The attack, which came four days after a similar one on three villages in the area, was said to have occurred at about 6 a.m. yesterday.
A resident of Kwasakwasa, located about 70 kilometres from Birnin Gwari Local Council Headquarters, Malam Isa Jatau, said that four vehicles belonging to security personnel were also set ablaze by the gunmen.
Jatau said several other villagers and security men were injured, adding that the bravery of soldiers and other security officers helped to ward off the attackers.
Secretary of the local council, Alhaji Zubairu Zakariya, also confirmed the attack, but said details on the casualty were being compiled.
According to him, Chairman of the council, Alhaji Idris Alhassan, had helped to convey the victims of the attack to Birnin Gwari General Hospital.
Assistant Director of Army Public Relations, 1 Mechanised Division, Nigerian Army, Kaduna, Colonel Sani Usman, who confirmed the unfortunate attack by the armed gunmen in Birnin Gwari yesterday, said in a text message: “Sorry, I am attending a programme in Jaji. Yes, I can confirm to you there was an encounter between our soldiers and insurgents in Birnin Gwari in which a number of the assailants were killed. Unfortunately, we also sustained two casualties, other details later. Thank you”.
Meanwhile, residents of Kirenoa Town in Marte Council Area and six other communities in the Lake Chad Basin Areas of Borno State on Wednesday appealed to President Goodluck Jonathan to allow the military dislodging Boko Haram terrorists remain in that part of the state.
Since the deployment of troops to the area in May, the residents said yesterday they have experienced peace, spared of incessant attacks and killings and devastation of their wheat and rice fields of the South Chad Irrigation Project
(SCIP) of Chad Basin Development Authority (CBDA).
The Federal Government, according to Audu Ibrahim at the Town Hall Meeting with Governor Kashim Shettima and Commander of the Combat Force in Marte, Lt.-Col. Gabriel Olufemi, has liberated the people of Marte and the entire Lake Chad Basin Areas of Borno State by destroying the Kirenoa training camp and hideout of the Boko Haram sect members.
His words: “All of us here that assembled this afternoon are breathing fresh air, and we are going about our farming and fishing activities in the Lake Chad Basin Areas. The continuation of the liberation of Marte by soldiers has to be guaranteed with the establishment of a permanent barracks in tightening the security of lives and property in our area.
“Our dire need to have a permanent Army Barracks cannot be over-emphasised, especially with the current security challenges. We are afraid the Boko Haram terrorist may return if and when the military rounds off their six-month mission to Marte, we wish the President will establish a military barracks here in Kirenoa to check activities of the Boko Haram sect.”
Ibrahim, however, noted: “We are happy the President ordered the deployment of troops to Marte, though, initially we were afraid of the soldiers because of what happened in Baga recently. But they have proved us wrong with their disposition towards us; we don’t want them to leave again.”
When contacted for his confirmation of the gunmen’s attack, the Kaduna State Police Commissioner, Mr. Femi Adenaike, said though he was still expecting details of the attack, the thick forest in the area, which stretches to parts of Zamfara, Katsina, Niger, and the Southern part of the country, was being used as cover by armed gangs for some time.
The prolonged exposure of residents, including top government officials, to Boko Haram incessant bombings and killings in Borno State has increased the cases of cardiac arrests and other psycho-traumatic diseases recorded at the hospitals and health centres in
Maiduguri, Bama, Monguno and Biu towns.
Addressing journalists on Wednesday to mark Democracy Day and second year in office of Governor Kashim Shettima in Maiduguri, the Commissioner for Health, Dr. Salma Anas-Kolo, who made the disclosure, said the Boko Haram insurgency has negatively impacted on the health and wellbeing of the people of Borno.
He added that healthcare delivery services to their doorsteps have been seriously affected.
Anas-Kolo said: “The violence going on has, no doubt, caused psychological trauma for many of the people and brought new emerging health challenges in Borno State. Our hospitals in Borno are now recording high rates of psychological trauma cases in patients owing to the insecurity in the state.
“Many people are now hypertensive, having heart diseases, as well as mental and physical disorder. This is not only with adults, but among many women and their children.”
The commissioner also noted that “there is also a rise in cases of unwanted pregnancies due to forceful marriages, and of course, such situation is followed by hike in cases of sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV/AIDS, syphilis and gonorrhea.”
But, according to her, despite the security challenges in the state, the government has continued to improve on and strengthen the health facilities and services by building six new General Hospitals at Konduga, Briyel, Askira, Kalabalge and Gudumbali, while those at Magumeri (Nursing Homes Maiduguri) now named after the slain General Mamman Shuwa, Dikwa, Mafa, Kwaya Kusar, Biu and Marte, have been upgraded and renovated.
No comments:
Post a Comment