Anti-terror war is collective responsibility – Buhari tells Dalori people
BY ABDULLAHI ISAH, MAIDUGURI
President Muhammadu Buhari has said that the war against Boko Haram has taken a dangerous turn and demands collective efforts, reassuring that the Federal Government is doing all in its power to crush the insurgency..
The President, who was represented by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, Engr. Babachir David Lawal, on a visit to the Dalori community over last Saturday`s Boko Haram attack, sympathized with the people of the community and the entire state over the incident and directed the National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, to immediately deploy relief materials to the people of the community in order to cushion their immediate hardship
The SGF was accompanied on the visit by the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Hajiya Kadijat Bukar Abba, Minister of State for Housing, Works and Power, Hon. Mustapha Shehuri and Minister of State for Health, Dr. Ehaneri Osagie.
He said the insurgents have graduated from capturing of communities and holding on to territories to the use of suicide bombers on the people, targeting higher casualties.
Engr. Lawal said: “When Boko Haram started, they were in the habit of capturing and holding on to territory because the past government allowed it. Now they have moved to the use of explosive devices on soft targets because of the heat on them by our military. This is a dangerous trend. In this stage of the battle with the insurgents, we may need to change our tactics”.
He said they were directed by the President to visit Borno to sympathize with the government and affected people, stressing that the visit would also afford them the opportunity of assessing the extent of destruction and humanitarian challenges for the Federal Government to take appropriate action.
He described the visit as unfortunate, noting that it was the second time he would be leading a Federal Government team to the state over Boko Haram attacks.
The SGF also said that Nigerians need to be more vigilant. “Now what we have at hand is that these terrorists have adopted the use of explosives to attack, this means the battle against Boko Haram is no longer for the military alone but for all of us, I urge you to be vigilante and cooperate with security operatives to end the insurgency.
Responding, the Borno state Deputy Governor, Alhaji Usman Durkwa, who received the Federal Government delegation on behalf of the Governor, thanked President Buhari for his concern for Borno and North East states affected by insurgency. He said the state would continue to partner with the presidency in tackling the Boko Haram challenge and other humanitarian issues created by the six years insurgency in the area.
Speaking earlier, the District Head of Dalori, Alhaji Usman Lawan Dalorima said that residents have informed President Buhari and Governor Kashim Shettima of Borno state that no amount of pressure from Boko Haram attacks will compel them to desert their community and become refugees in any of the settlement camps in Maiduguri.
They insisted that despite the calamity that befell them last Saturday where over 150 people were killed with the total destruction of their houses by a group of insurgents, they would rather stay back in their ancestral home, as death according to them is inevitable in any society.
Dalori is south east and 10kms drive from Maiduguri metropolis which already has about 23 designated Camps for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) which host over 5 million people.
The residents who comprised of stakeholders including the Borno State Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Alhaji Ali Bukar Dalori made their position known at the destroyed palace of the District Head.
The residents who also kicked against the ongoing digging of trenches to surround the community by military to safeguard them from another infiltration by Boko Haram sect from the Sambisa forest, called on the government particularly NEMA to provide them with food items and rebuild their destroyed houses instead of embarking on digging trenches by escavators in the name of security measures.
“We are grateful for the visit to sympathize and condole with us over the unfortunate attack last Saturday, but we are appealing to government to stop the ongoing digging of trenches around our community, because these trenches will prevent our people whenever there is an attack to flee as an escape route in the community.
“We are not going anywhere, this is our land and we have no other place than Dalori. We are not against deployment of security personnel to this community, but my people are strongly against surrounding them with trenches,” the APC chairman appealed on behalf of the community.
