MUBI, an epicentre of the battle between the military and
Boko Haram terrorists witnessed one of the bloodiest fights
Monday.
It claimed the lives of 24 soldiers. Their leader, Adeboye
Obasanjo, son of former President Olusegun Obasanjo,
survived. But he sustained injuries.
Online media said Monday that Obasanjo, an army
engineer and a lieutenant colonel at the Third Division in
Jos, Plateau State was shot when the Boko Haram
militants attacked a platoon he led . He was being
transported to the hospital at the time of this report.
He and his platoon were engaged with Boko Haram
militants at Baza, which is the village of the General Officer
Commanding (GOC) of the Third Division when the incident
took place.
The Lt. Col. Agwu of the 234 battalion, GOC of the Third
Division, Maj. Gen. J.S. Zaruwa and Col. Victor Ebhaleme
who serves as the Brigade Commander of the 23rd Army
Brigade in Yola were all together advancing towards
Michika when Boko Haram fighters unleashed the deadly
attack on the troops.
Apart from the dead soldiers, the army also lost an
armoured tank to the militants. As a result of the attack,
the army has moved sensitive weapons from Mubi, a town
in Adamawa State, to the brigade headquarters in Yola .
The town of Mubi has practically been deserted following
the closure of schools and massive retreat of soldiers from
the city.
Sources at the Ministry of Defence confirmed that the son
of the former president was injured in the Northeast during
a fight by his unit against Boko Haram. The source
stressed that he was not dead but receiving needed
treatment in an undisclosed hospital.
Earlier yesterday, it was learnt that the military had
recaptured Michika after reclaiming Bama. Michika and
Bama are in Adamawa and Borno states respectively.
The arrival of two warplanes from the Nigerian Air Force
(NAF) paved the way for the army to recapture Michika
town which was on Sunday taken over by the terrorists.
The Guardian learnt from a military source who was not
authorised to speak to the media that the army after getting
military reinforcement recaptured Michika town and it was
heading to Gulak with the terrorists putting on strong
resistance.
The source added: “In the past six hours, we engaged the
deadly sect in a gun battle, we succeeded in chasing them
out of Michika and we are pushing to Gulak, certainly we
are going to recapture the invaded towns from Boko
Haram.”
On Saturday morning, Boko Haram took over Gulak town,
the headquarters of Madagali local government in northern
Adamawa. On Sunday again, the group captured Michika
town, killing dozens of people.
Felix Zira, a lecturer with the Nigerian Law School, Yola
who is an indigene of Michika confirmed to The Guardian
that the terror group had overrun the town killing several
people.
“For now I cannot tell you the exact total number of the
people killed, because everybody that is still alive is
running for safety”, he said.
The House of Assembly member representing Michika
constituency, Mr. Adamu Kamale, confirmed the
insurgents’ invasion of his constituency and urged the
military authority to come to the aid of his people by
mobilising to the area.
An eye witness, Alhaji Abubakar Useni, at Mararaba Mubi
said that Boko Haram was at Uba town on its way to Mubi
when NAF started bombing the area, forcing the terrorists
to withdraw.
Since Sunday night, Yola the Adamawa State capital has
been invaded by hundreds of people fleeing the troubled
areas.
Michika is the hometown of former Lagos State Military
Administrator Brigadier-General Mohammed Buba Marwa
(rtd).
All efforts to get the military authorities in Yola to
comment on the developments failed as The Guardian’s
phone calls put across to the army were not picked.
Meanwhile, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has
expressed worry about Boko Haram’s incursion into some
towns and villages.
NLC President Abdulwahed Omar said yesterday in a
statement that while NLC appreciated the commitment of
security agencies, particularly the armed forces in the
battle against insurgency in Nigeria, “we strongly warn that
the consequence of allowing any part of the country to be
forcefully seized by any group will be overwhelmingly
harmful to our collective unity and socio-economic
advancement, just as it would also endanger the growth of
democracy.”
Omar added: “We are worried at the speed with which the
insurgents are taking over communities even in areas
reported to have heavy security presence.”
Part of the statement read: “The credibility and
professional image of our armed forces would be at stake,
even in global ratings, if our forces who have been widely
acclaimed to have performed so well during peace keeping
operations in different parts of the world would allow
themselves to be overrun by insurgents back home.
“While we commend the Federal Government for providing
necessary human and material needs for the battle against
these insurgents, we believe the government can do more
in ensuring the troops are well kitted with modern weapons
and all that is required to fight contemporary wars as the
situation has obviously moved beyond mere insurgency.
“We must never allow any part of Nigeria to be subjected
to perpetual fear and nightmares, which the entire north
east seems to have been boxed into.
“The need for an urgent intervention in the funding and
provision of appropriate equipment for the Nigerian armed
forces as well as proper policing of communities across the
country cannot be over-emphasised at this juncture.
“The failure to do this will be a monumental discredit to
the Federal Government under whose direction and
authority the armed forces as well as the overall safety of
all residents is constitutionally placed.
“It is clear that the insurgents have decided to massively
move out of their hideouts to launch massive attacks on
the country and this must be seen as a declaration of war
and should be repelled with the best weapons, which must
be made available for our collective defence.
“Every part of the country is as important as other parts and our collective interests and future would be subjugated
if any part is taken by anti-Nigeria forces. The events of the last few weeks clearly indicate the determination of the
sect to violate Nigeria’s territorial integrity.”
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