The Borno State House of Assembly has passed a vote of no confidence on the President Goodluck Jonathan-led administration over the ongoing Boko Haram crisis in the state, insisting that the situation has deteriorated.
Leader of the Assembly, Idrissa Jidda, while expressing displeasure over the handling of the security situation by the federal government, hailed the state governor, Kashim Shettima, for his approach to the impending security challenges.
Jidda said the governor has done creditably well in giving hope to the people of the state and could have performed better if he had received the necessary support from the federal government.
Another lawmaker, Abubakar Tijjani, representing Maiduguri metropolitan council in the state House of Assembly, said it was time for the federal government to shun politics and take the necessary steps that would bring a lasting solution as well as give hope to those who have been affected.
Meanwhile, the death toll from the last attack launched in the Benishiekh area of the state has risen to 150, as the army remains mystified about the ambush which has left the most number of soldier casualty since the fight against insurgency began in the region.
Property destroyed in the two-day attacks by the suspected insurgents include 15 trucks, 18 cars, eight motorcycles, six bicycles and more than 280 houses and shops of residents who had fled into the bush on the directives of soldiers deployed in the town.
Army spokesman, Mohammed Idriss Yusuf, said on Wednesday that over 300 Boko Haram insurgents invaded the town by 5p.m. and started to attack houses and shops with Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) and petrol-bombs for about 10 hours.
He added that as the soldiers ran out of arms and ammunition to face the firing powers of the insurgents, some of the soldiers had to take cover in the nearby bush, after the residents were directed to flee also for their safety.
Saidu Yakubu, of the Borno State Environmental Agency, BOSEPA, said at least 150 dead bodies had been recovered.
He said besides the torching of people’s houses and shops, the office complexes of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), boarding primary school and the council’s secretariat were also set ablaze by the gunmen.
My question is what contribution have they made to end the insurgency. Do they expect GEJ to carry arm and start fighting? What is needed now is understanding, support, and cooperation of all to end these evil. GEJ didn’t start it. Some selfish politicians from the north did and are still sponsoring them against GEJ’s regime to ridicule it.
Are the soldiers containing the insurgents or not as being stated by the Military? Reports of coordinated attacks by BH seems to indicate otherwise.