•Vows to rescue kidnapped Kaduna school children
From Molly Kilete, Abuja
The Defence Headquarters said the 112 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), who were abducted by terrorists in Borno, recently, reportedly went beyond the permissible distance from their camp without informing the camp officials.
The Director, Defence Media Operations, Maj.-Gen. Edward Buba, made the disclosure while giving an update on the operations of the Nigerian Armed Forces across the country, yesterday, in Abuja.
Buba said troops, on March 3, received information from the Coordinator, Borno State Emergency Management Agency, about suspected abduction of an unknown number of IDPs in Gamboru Ngala Local Government Area of Borno.
He said preliminary investigation revealed that the IDPs left camp to an undisclosed location to fetch firewood. He said that the IDPs reportedly went beyond the permissible distance and did not notify the camp authorities of their movement.
“It was later, at about 2030hrs, at night, when the IDPs did not return to camp, that the alarm was raised as to their possible abduction by terrorists. It was at that stage that troops were notified of the incident. The standard practice was for troops to be notified prior to any movement of IDPs beyond the permissible distance of five to seven kilometres from their camp.
“The IDPs reportedly went beyond the permissible distance to get firewood as a result of deforestation around their camp and the terrorists abducted 112 IDPs in the process,” he said.
Buba said efforts were ongoing to rescue them and others abducted in other locations, including Kaduna and Sokoto states. He said search-and-rescue efforts were affected by the late notification of troops about the abduction. He gave the assurance that the military will do its best to get back the abducted people.
“Because of the sensitivity of the matter, I cannot go into further details as to signs of life, location and the different options that we have, in order to get these hostages back. I can further assure that getting these hostages back is very clearly on the top of our priorities. It is for this reason we have leveraged on our international partners for support,” he said.
Meanwhile, the DHQ has vowed to rescue all the 287 school children abducted by terrorists in Kaduna State. It said the military will not rest until all the hostages, including those kidnapped from the Internally Displaced Persons(IDP) camps, are rescued unhurt and reunited with their families.
Already, the DHQ said it has commenced a high powered search and rescue operation with assistance from international partners to get the abducted persons.
Director, Defence Media Operations (DMO, Major General Edward Buba, gave the assurance at a media briefing on military operations conducted across the country in the last one week. He said: “These hostages are being held in locations that are difficult to get to, but not out of reach.”
The DMO spokesman, while assuring that the armed forces remain focused on defeating terrorist groups and dismantling of their military capabilities, such that they can no longer terrorise or hurt citizens, said the military has seriously depleted the strength of the terrorists who are now embarking on massive kidnappings for recruitment drive and human shields.
Buba, who called on Nigerians to continue to support the military in its fight against terrorism, blamed the school authorities for failing to report the incident to security agencies on time. He said it took more than six hours after the students were abducted for the information to get to security agencies before machinery was commenced for the rescue efforts.
Speaking on the successes of the counter terrorism operations, Buba, said: “We have depleted their ranks, neutralised many of their commanders and foot soldiers. The terrorists exhibited gross cowardice by going after children.
“We have taken their commanders out. We recently acquired new air platforms to further decimate them. They know we mean business. It is to protect themselves that they went after the students. But we will not rest until all the kidnapped victims are rescued. The aim of the military in ongoing counterinsurgency war is the enduring defeat of terrorist groups across the country and the dismantling of their military capabilities, such that they can no longer terrorise or hurt citizens. Accordingly, the armed forces remain focussed on achieving this aim.
“As in every war, there are complexities and ours is no exception. Recently, cases of citizens being abducted in the North East, North West and North Central theatres of operations were recorded. These citizens were abducted by a brutal and blood tasty group that should only be addressed as terrorists, and not bandits. I repeat, these are terrorists and not bandits.
He said they were holding the citizens against their will and against all norms of human behaviour, and against the laws of armed conflict and any good measure in the world.
“No doubt, this is a difficult situation, but not one that is insurmountable. The hostage situation is an extremely sensitive one which, unfortunately, is not unprecedented in the history of the ongoing war. These hostages are being held in locations that are difficult to get to, but not out of reach. The situation is, however, indicative of the desperation of these terrorists to avoid troops’ onslaught by all means.
“Recall that, in recent times, troops have decimated several of the terrorist leaders, commanders and foot soldiers and fast closing in one several others. These terrorists have exhibited cowardice by going for such soft targets to impede troops’ advances. I assure you that we will not rest until they are returned.
“Given the hostage situation, it can be deduced that the search and rescue effort was grossly affected by the non timely notification of troops of the incident. Nevertheless, I can assure you that we will not rest until these hostages are returned. However, because of the sensitivity of the matter, I cannot go into further details as to signs of life, location, and the different options that we have, in order to get these hostages back.
“I can further assure that getting these hostages back is very clearly on the top of our priorities. It is for this reason we have leveraged on our international partners for support. Accordingly, they are providing the necessary support, including intelligence that is giving us the advantage in dealing with the ugly situation.
“Importantly, as it is often said, we are at war and ugly things happen during war. During times of war, it is commonplace to witness propaganda, deception, misinformation, disinformation and fake news. Our situation is no different.
“There is, therefore, the need for citizens to be circumspect when they see posts from these terrorist groups and their cohorts, particularly on social media. These groups feed on the attention that they receive in the media to sway the populace. We must be conscious of that and avoid being used directly or indirectly against our national interest.”
Ge. Buba said, recently, the terrorists initiated a post that went viral on the attack of military vehicles. He said the incident was reported when it occurred in December 2023 in which one soldier lost his life as a result of the attack. Afterwards, troops conducted synchronised attacks, killing the leader of that group and several of his foot soldiers.
He said: “The post, therefore, is clearly an act of desperation by the terrorist to conceal their weakness. Overall, we are winning the war and making life unbearable for these terrorists. We continue to degrade them each passing day. We have seriously depleted their ranks to the extent that they are on a desperate recruitment drive, hence some of the witnessed abductions.
“Several of their leaders and commanders have been neutralised as a result of troops’ onslaught. They want to use these hostages as human shields for their survival. Nevertheless, be assured that we will not rest until the hostages are returned.
“As patriotic citizens, we must resist the temptation to celebrate posts from terrorists and enemies of the state. These are not good people, rather they are devils from the pit of hell. Consequently, if you find yourself celebrating terror, you’re wrong. Pure and simple.”