May 26, 2014
by Maina Maina, DailyPost
A community leader in Limankara border town in Borno State has petitioned President Goodluck Jonathan and the Inspector General of Police, (IGP), Mohammed Abubakar over the Boko Haram recent attacks that claimed several lives and property worth over N1 billion.
The petition was signed by the district head, Alhaji Abdulkareem, ward head of Limankara, Mr. Zephaniah Tada, and three other representatives- John Mark Hodo, James Dauda Chihwa, and Aliyu Usman.
They said it became inevitable in order to ensure the protection of the border community against insurgency and incessant attacks.
Representatives of the community alleged that the commandant of the National Mobile Training School, Limankara connived with insurgents to attack and kill members of the community.
They alleged that while the attack lasted for over four hours, he directed the policemen in the school not to “come out and confront” the insurgents from destroying lives and property.
The destruction of property, according to Hodo and Kutho, could have been higher, if soldiers from Adamawa State had not come to their rescue.
The petition also reads in part: “The Boko Haram gunmen stormed our village through the Sambisa Forest en-route through Jaje road that links National Mobile Training School.
“They operated from 1am to 5am of Saturday, destroyed several houses, vehicles and our local church near the District Head’s residence, and went back into the forest unhurt. If soldiers from Adamawa State did not intervene, the insurgents could have killed many of us”.
The community’s fears and worries, according to the petition, was how the commandant of Mobile Training School treated the villagers in protecting their lives and property.
“We don’t know whether the commandant is working with Boko Haram or protecting lives and property of Nigerians in Borno State”, asked representatives of the community.
“The gunmen came into the village through the training school, and went back through the same route, while 200 mobile policemen are in the school premises. The commandant directed the policemen not to ambush the insurgents, as they did not come to attack the school or its students.
“When the community is in distress or fears, the police are supposed to protect us, just like when the school was in need of any help or assistance from members of this community. This Mobile Training School had been in existence for 32 years in Limankara, but the Commander had
been assisting Boko Haram”.
DailyPost also learnt that during the attack, a border bridge with Adamawa State was destroyed, even as food items and vehicles were carted away.
