The security situation in Adamawa, to say the least, is scary,
going by the effrontery of Boko Haram insurgents who are bent on overrunning more
towns in the North-eastern state. The terrorists’ battle for the soul of
Adamawa started last week. They are even determined to capture more towns. By
Monday, the convoy of the General Officer Commanding (GOC), 3 Division of the
Army, Jos, Plateau State, Major-Gen. J.S. Zaruwa, was attacked by the Islamist
sect. At least, 24 soldiers were killed. The son of former President Olusegun
Obasanjo, Lt-Col. Adeboye Obasanjo, an Army engineer, was shot and wounded.
Lt.-Col. Agwu of the 234 Battalion, Gen. Zaruwa and the Brigade Commander, Col.
Ebhaleme, were also attacked when the convoy was advancing towards Michika. But
the military is responding to the attacks with the deployment of fighter jets
and helicopter gunships. The soldiers have since recaptured Mararaba and also
Uba, a boundary town between Adamawa and Borno states. A source said: “They
have taken Uba and Gulak. Soldiers from Borno and Adamawa states were involved
in the operation in Uba. As we are talking now, the soldiers are taking on the
insurgents in Mararaba which is between Michika and Mubi. The soldiers have
blocked most of their (Boko Haram’s) routes to Cameroon while the Air Force is
carrying out aerial bombardment. By yesterday, the situation has deteriorated
in Adamawa. Mubi, the commercial nerve centre of the state and said to be the
hometown of the Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Alex Bardeh, is on
the verge of being captured by Boko Haram.
The residents are petrified, some are fleeing into Yola, the state
capital, which is being fortified by the military. The Emir of Mubi, Alhaji
Abubakar Isa Ahmadu, has fled, on account of security advice.
Sun Newspaper
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