Residents of Magumeri, Borno blame Nigerian army for Boko Haram attacks
- A community called Magumeri was attacked by Boko Haram terrorists on March 16
- Residents who survived the attack have come out to blame the army
- According to the residents, they warned the army about the impending doom but they were ignored
- You can read more about Boko Haram news here: https://www.legit.ng/tag/boko-haram.html
Th people of Magumeri, a little town in borno state which was attacked by Boko Haram terrorist on March 16, 2017 has said the unfortunate incident could have been avoided.
According to the residents who survived to tell the story, the Nigerian military failed to act on intelligence provided to them by locals who warned them before the attack, Vanguard reports.
The residents claimed that the military troops on ground had ignored all verifiable intelligence provided to them that Boko Haram fighters were gathering around their community.
They made this claim during a stakeholders meeting convoked by the governor of Borno state, Kashim Shettima, to ascertain the veracity of the military’s claims that residents did cooperate with the Boko Haram Sect, and even allowed terrorists live in their houses.
The residents led by the member representing Magumeri local government at the Borno state House of Assembly gave their testimonies on how they had been working with the military in ensuring that peace reign in the agrarian community.
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The testimonies given by both the personnel of the DSS, CIB, and the police, all corroborated by the local civilian-JTF all claimed that the military were aware that the attack was about to take place days before it happened.
The Head of Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) in Magumeri, Mr. Bello Nuhu Haruna, who led in the giving his testimony said hours to the ill-fated attack, he was in the office of the commander of the military deployment in Magumeri where he informed him of the impending attack.
“The commanding officer, a captain invited me to his office some hours before the attack asking for the details of the location where Boko Haram fighters were said to be assembling, and I asked him to bring out the map where I gave him all the necessary information. But I am not sure if anything done in response to that before the attackers came."
Similar the Bureau head of the DSS in Magumeri, Mr Tim Modalla, said he had gathered intelligence four days before the attack that Boko Haram fighters were gathering at a location not quite far away from Maiduguri.
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He said received an intelligence that Boko Haram were gathering in some villages around Magumeri, and they and continued to shift their base closer by the day until the eventually stormed Magumeri with about 45 vehicles and large number of motorcycles.
He said: “We picked the report and transmitted same to the military telling them that it is possible that Boko Haram would bring attack to either Magumeri, Mobbar or Gubio towns. And as predicted on the 15th of March I was informed by a civilian-JTF that our town was about to be attacked. And I told him to quickly alert the captain, and the civilian-JTF Operative said he was at the military base four times to alert them of the attack."
Another community leader said: “On several occasion, despite my age, I would climb telecom masts together with some of our youth to ensure that we keep track of any Boko haram movement. And any information we get are reliably relayed to the military."
"On the day of the attack, some few hours before it happened I got a call in Maiduguri from Magumeri that we were about to be attacked; and I quickly called the military commanders that I have their numbers to adequately inform them. But nothing was done. So how could they have accused us of helping the Boko Haram. That is not fair."
A leader of the civilian-JTF in Magumeri , Mr. also said he got a hint in the morning of that attack that a large number of Boko Haram fighters advancing towards their village. He said he personally relayed the information to the Commander of the Troops.
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“When I received the information the Boko Haram fighters were about 30km away from Magumeri, I had to run to the soldiers’ camp to inform the captain who is the commander that this is what was about to take place. Some few minutes later, I ran back to the captain upon receiving the information that the attackers were about 20km away. When they were less than 10 km I still went back to the captain to alert him. On my fourth trip back from the camp, when I was about to mobilise my boys to move into the soldiers camp, the Boko Haram fighters invaded the town, and began to attack the base. That was how all of us, including the soldiers took to our heels. So I still don’t know why we are being accused of helping the Boko Haram after all these information we have provided to them."
The Garrison Commander who represented the G.O.C at the meeting described the development as unfortunate but said he would not speak on why the army spokesman had issued the statement suggesting that the resident connived with the Boko Haram. But he did confirmed receiving early intelligence from some of the community leaders informing him about the impending attacks, hours before it happened.
Meanwhile, in the early morning of Wednesday, March 22, multiple bomb blast hit Muna Garage, Maiduguri, Borno state.
The multiple blasts resulted in the death of eight people, while eighteen others sustained injury. The Borno state police commissioner, Damian Chukwu, said it happened at around 4:30 am.
Source: Legit.ng
