Gunmen suspected to be members of the Boko Haram Islamist sect almost felled Governor of Adamawa State, Murtala Nyako and Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Hon. Umar Fintiri with bullets on Friday.
The incident occurred in Shuwa town, in Michika Local Government Area of the state, where Nyako and some state officials were paying a condolence visit, after visiting Madagali Local Government, another area attacked by Boko Haram gunmen on Wednesday.
The governor had just concluded his condolence message and prayers were ongoing when the sporadic sounds of gunshot caused commotion. An eyewitness said two gunmen disguised in military uniform were the ones who had emerged from the crowd to shoot thrice into the air.
Reacting to the attack on the governor, Vice Chairman of the Senate Committee on Defence, Senator Mohammed Jibrilla Bindo described it as proof that no one in the region or elsewhere in the country is safe.
“The attack on the Adamawa State governor is a wake-up call on security agencies to change strategy. It has now demonstrated that nobody is safe in Nigeria, because even after the recent attack, security is still not tight as there is state of emergency in place,” Bindo said.
“I call on the security agencies to change their strategies in line with resolution of the committee, which on Wednesday ordered the army headquarters to relocate to the 7th Division in Maiduguri in order to tackle the Boko Haram sect. I condemn in strongest terms the attack on my governor, Murtala Nyako”.
Only the previous day, Nyako had addressed a press conference inside his office in Yola to condemn the Federal Government for failing to curtail the endless killings.
“There is no excuse whatsoever. We want to know more from the authorities. By now, the authorities should be able to know what is happening. We should be able to know where these arms are manufactured and even the signatures of the weapons”, he had said.
“We ought to know who ordered it, who paid for it, how did it come to the country, from where were they shipped, through which port in Nigeria they arrived and who cleared it. President, Vice President, Governors and the military — they are the only groups that pass checkpoints without being searched and which of these groups are conveying these arms to the scene of the action. We want to know.
At least 32 people were murdered on Wednesday in Madagali and Michika Local Government Areas of Adamawa State, just a day after the attack on the Federal Government College Buni Yadi, Gujba Local Government Area of Yobe State, which resulted in the death of 43 people.
However, the Nigerian Army subsequently issued a statement refuting the terrorist attack on Nyako, also saying that it has arrested more terrorists and killed another 13 of them in a raid on their temporary camp located between Borno and Adamawa States.
Director of Defence Information, Major General Chris Olukolade, who signed the statement, said some of the terrorists who escaped were arrested in Maiduguri.
“The alleged attack on the convoy of Governor Nyako, as presented in a breaking news report, is not true. The truth is that the Governor of Adamawa State, Murtala Nyako visited Michika and Shuwa areas of the state to sympathise with the communities that were attacked by terrorists recently”, read a part of the statement.
“While returning, the convoy came across a noticeable pandemonium, which resulted from the alarm raised by some people who had mistaken a convoy movement of troops on patrol at Kirchinga village, for another impending attack by terrorists. In the ensuing stampede and confusion, people scampered into the bush ostensibly to escape from those mistaken for terrorists”.
It maintained that the incident, which was presented as ‘Breaking News’ and scrolled on TV is an untrue reflection of what actually happened.
“The report is capable of causing unnecessary anxiety and heightening tension”, the statement added.
“The military authorities therefore find it necessary to put the records straight and call on residents to go about their normal activities while remaining vigilant. The operations in the North East are being consolidated and every effort is made to stop the terrorists from continuing their atrocities in that part of the country”.
The Military further assured that calm has returned to Shuwa after the pandemonium generated by the panic in the community this morning, when people sighted the convoy of troops going after terrorists and mistook it for another round of attack.
