Hunters Kill Seven Boko Haram Suspects in Adamawa

By Daji Sani in Yola

Seven Boko Haram insurgents have been reportedly killed by hunters drafted for the fight against insurgency, at Ghantsa area of Makwan Village in Madagali Local Government Area of Adamawa State.

An eyewitness from the affected area revealed that the attack started by 12p.m last Saturday when the insurgents were burning houses and shooting sporadically at the village, few kilometres to Gulak town.

The eyewitness said while they were busy with their operations, seven of them met their waterloo, while some escaped with bullet wounds.

He said while they were busy burning houses and looting properties belonging to the villagers, some Fulanis quickly alerted the hunters who were manning their duty post  some killometres away from Ghantsa area of Makwan village, and on hearing the news of the attack, the leader of the hunters, Mallam Bukar Jimeta, immediately mobilised his men to the area.

The source further explained that the hunters engaged the insurgents in a shootout for close to three hours between 10p.m. and midnight on Saturday and they overpowered the insurgents,  killing seven of them, while one was caught alive with gun wounds and other escaped into bush.

Also confirming the incident, Mallam Bukar Jimeta, the leader of the Hunters Association of Nigeria, said  his men killed Boko Haram but refused to speak further on the issue.

Also, a senior military officer, who did not want his name mentioned, confirmed that there was an attack at about 12p.m. on Saturday to 1a.m. on Sunday morning, resulting to the killing of one member of the Boko Haram sect.

He said some weapons and ammunitions were recovered from the insurgents and were been handed over the authority concerned.

Meanwhile, the state Governor, Muhammadu Jibrilla Bindow, has said Nigeria deserves a United States (US)-led international community  support to get out of recession for it to successfully neutralise the spread of terrorism ideology among youth and vulnerable persons.

Bindow in a statement yesterday in Yola regarding his trip with some northern governors to United States (US) where they had a meeting with US officials on issues of security and humanitarian assistance, said  Nigeria needed urgent international  support if it must succeed in checking the spread of terror ideology among youths.

“To neutralise the attraction of terror ideology among our youth and other vulnerable persons, the international community led by the US must support Nigeria fight corruption, repatriate stolen funds and get out of economic recession as quickly as possible.

“We cannot succeed if we are unable to meet our basic responsibilities to our people.

“The current economic recession if not overcome within the shortest possible time may reverse some of our gains in mass mobilisation and engineering a productive society.” Bindow said.

While lauding US, United Nations and other countries as well as humanitarian agencies that are supporting humanitarian activities in areas affected by the Boko Haram insurgency, Bindow said that apart from helping in securing and rebuilding the sub region, another bigger challenge is improving the institutional capacity of governance at the state and local government levels for them to be effective.

“Our studies have found that weakness in institutions of governance had partly aided the spread of insurgency ideology among our people.

“Governments in the North East need to be strengthened to be able to provide the desired leadership that will mobilize and galvanize our citizens to be productive and protective of their interest. For must people the only government they know is the municipal government, hence the need to strengthen its institutional capacity.”

Bindow said that the state and local governments needed enhancement in areas of agriculture which is the mainstay of their economy as well as  provision of social services such as education and healthcare delivery.

“We also need to be able to improve our media and information dissemination structures to enable us avail our people narrative that promises hope and banishes despair.

“We need increased visibility of our state and local governments within our communities. That should be the new focus, if indeed we desire to create sustainable peace in the North-East region,” Bindow said.

The governor stressed that a system strained by excessive poverty, high rate of unemployment, social inequalities and limited access to education could not guarantee peace and peaceful coexistence, adding that those challenges are core of insurgency that was fueled by the globalization of terror.

while  in USA governor Bindow and other northern governors that undertook the trip attended three separate meetings with US Secretary of States, Mr John Kerry, President Barrack Obama’s National Security Advisor, Ambassador Suzan Rice and the Administrator of United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Mr Gayle Smith.

The three meetings focused on deepening collaboration on conflicts elimination, prevention, humanitarian aide and partnerships on the solving development factors responsible ‎for recurring ethno-religious violence in northern Nigeria

They governors also attended a three-day symposium organized by the United States Institute of Peace ( USIP).

Northern Governors that made the trip to US included that of Adamawa, Borno, Taraba, Plateau, Zamfara, Kwara, Bauchi, Sokoto and Niger.