North East insurgency almost over ― Shettima

BORNO state governor, Kashim Shettima has assured that despite continuing pockets of attacks, the Boko Haram insurgency in the northeast is almost over.

He said in a brief chat with State House correspondents after a meeting with Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari, on Tuesday that the situation has greatly improved compared to three years ago.

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The governor was in the State House, Abuja in connection with a planned visit by President Muhammadu Buhari to Borno state as well as Army Day celebration.

He said: “Well, the ongoing insurgency problem is largely over, we might be having some hiccups but when you compared the past with the present, we have every cause to celebrate.

“We have pockets of the insurgents in islands around the Lake Chad and the Sambisa forest but when you juxtapose the sorry state of affairs three, four years ago and the current situation we are in, I think there is cause for celebration. There is no cause for alarm.”

 

 

BOKO HARAM ATTACKS AND FATALITIES

Since the first attack of Boko Haram in 2009 in one of the police barracks in Bauchi state that killed scores of people, including police officers and members of their family, and the subsequent killing of the leader of the sect, Yusuf Mohammed, the coordinated attacks by Boko Haram have intensified. The extrajudicial killing of the sect leader made the group intensified its attacks on government departments, the church, markets, homes, police and military formations (Ajah, 2011). It is erroneous to believe that the sect attacks churches without doing same to the muslim worshiping centers. Boko Haram has attacked mosques in the northeast and even killed some Islamic clerics that are opposed to their ideology. It is estimated that over 10, 000 Nigerians have been killed and maimed by the sect since 2009. Abubakar Shekau who was the deputy of Mohammed Yusuf took over the mantle of leadership of the sect after Yusuf’s death. The year 2014 has been the worst period of the group attacks, according to Human Right Watch. Over 700 people have been killed in attacks on 40 villages in the northeast states of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa. Most of the attacks are concentrated in these three states. However, the nation’s capital Abuja, Jos, Kano and some part of the north have experienced attacks from Boko Haram. Figure 1 illustrates Boko Haram attacks and fatalities.

The sect attacks churches, mosque, schools, markets, motor parks and houses. The attacks of Boko Haram have led to the displacement of thousand of people in the northeast. In order to curtail the heinous crime of the sect against humanity the federal government in 2013 declared a state of emergency in the three states that the sect activities are predominate. The state of emergency did not stop the sect from the continuation of bombings, killings, kidnappings and the destruction of property. In a nutshell, the attacks of the sect in the period of state of emergency surpassed when there was no state of emergency. The question on the lips of Nigerians what is the purpose of the state of emergency when Boko Haram has intensified its attacks on innocent Nigerians? Professor Clionadh Raleigh of the University of Sussex created a data that demonstrates the attacks of Boko Haram before and after the declared state of emergency.

Additional reports from researchgate.net