Cameroon has said it is recruiting 20,000 more defence and
security forces to fight Boko Haram following reports that
the terrorist group, based in Nigeria, is recruiting young
Cameroonians to fight for them.
This is just as nine persons were killed, including two
suicide bombers, as multiple bomb explosions rocked Yobe
and Gombe states on the eve and new year day, while 10
others were injured.
Senator Haman Paul, who hails from northern Cameroon,
told VOA about Boko Haram’s recruitment of young
Cameroonians to fight for the creation of an Islamist
caliphate in northern Nigeria.
“That was something that we witnessed in Maroua (in
northern Cameroon). People told us that they found people
in town that were not actually people they were used to.
When we found that one part of the country is in a very
delicate situation, it is better to manage prevention instead
of consequences,” said Paul.
Another lawmaker from northern Cameroon, Sali Dairou,
said that just last week Boko Haram seized cattle from
Cameroonian ranchers who lived along the border with
Nigeria’s Borno and Adamawa states, adding that the
ranchers have lost thousands of cattle.
Dairou said the militants also killed some of the cattle
ranchers, while thousands of their cows went into the wild.
He said this was a huge loss, adding that no rancher has
the courage to go to the boundary with Nigeria to bring
back his remaining cattle.
Cameroon’s Minister of Territorial Administration, Rene
Emmanuel Sadi, said the threat posed by Boko Haram had
led many people from the border areas to flee.
He said northern Cameroon was the hardest hit as many
schools have remained closed and people are abandoning
their farms and cattle.
Sadi said Boko Haram has paralyzed trade between
Cameroon and Nigeria that has supplied 80 per cent of
foodstuff and basic necessities to northern Cameroon since
the two countries gained independence more than five
decades ago.
Commercial activities halted
He said in addition to the woes of the economy of northern
Cameroon was the fact that Nigerian fuel, which is widely
used, was no longer available while business transactions
and commercial activities had been completely halted by
Boko Haram.
Cameroon’s Defence Minister, Edgard Alain Mebe Ngo’o,
said besides the economic hardship, atrocities committed
by the militant group have led to a massive movement of
more than 30,000 villagers to areas of the country away
from the border.
He said fear gripped the people when Boko Haram started
arresting and publicly killing religious leaders and chiefs
who collaborate with the government of Cameroon in some
villages that neighbour Nigeria’s Borno state.
Effect of unrest
Another effect of the unrest has been that commercial
banks are unable to recover loans granted to farmers and
cattle ranchers and now have decided not to give loans to
people along Cameroon’s border with Nigeria.
Cameroon’s Police chief, Martin Mbarga Nguelle, said that
the country had decided to recruit some 20,000 defence and
security forces to fight and restore security in the border
areas.
He said Cameroonian President Paul Biya had instructed
him to recruit 4,700 policemen this year and 5,000 next
year. The military is also recruiting at least 6,000
Cameroonian youths this year.
Cameroon joined Nigeria, Benin, Chad and Niger in sharing
intelligence and border surveillance.
Cameroon is working with the four African nations plus the
United States, France, China and Germany in a new regional
African effort against the extreme Islamists.
9 killed in Yobe, Gombe explosions
Meanwhile, nine persons were killed, including two suicide
bombers, as multiple bomb explosions rocked Yobe and
Gombe states on the eve and new year day, while 10 others
were injured.
On Wednesday, witnesses said that seven people were
killed when a bus exploded in a village close to Potiskum,
the commercial capital of northern Yobe.
“The bus went up in flames from multiple blasts that killed
all seven men inside,” said Hambali Baidu, a resident of
Maiduwa village, which lies some 60 kilometers (40 miles)
from the city.
No official confirmation of the death toll has been given.
“We heard series of explosions from the bus, which went
flying into the air in flames,” said Usman Haruna, another
resident.
“They were no doubt Boko Haram militants on their way to
carry out attacks.”
Suicide bomber shot dead
Later same day, a female suicide bomber was killed as she
tried to enter a military barracks.
Soldiers opened fire on the woman when she refused to be
searched as she approached the barracks in Bolari, in
Gombe State, detonating the explosives belt she was
wearing, according to eyewitness accounts.
The woman, who was wearing a hijab, was killed instantly,
witnesses said.
“The woman refused to stop and continued to advance
towards the military guards at the gates despite repeated
orders for her to stop at a distance,” said Shuaibu Nasir,
who lives near the gates of the barracks.
“The soldiers opened fire on the woman, who quickened her
pace towards them, and as they fired shots at her she
exploded with a loud sound that shook our buildings,” Nasir
said.
Wednesday’s blast prompted policemen to fire warning
shots in the air, causing panic among residents, Nasir said.
Another resident, Ahmed Baballe, said the would-be bomber
was “blown to pieces” by the impact of the explosion.
“The soldiers did not take chances with the woman and
opened fire when she showed no sign of stopping to be
searched,” Baballe said.
ECWA targeted
Also yesterday, several people were injured at the entrance
of Tudun Wada ECWA Church, Gombe, when a suicide
bomber set off his explosive.
The spokesman of the state Police Command, DSP Fwaje
Atajiri, told newsmen in Gombe that a suicide bomber rode
on a motorcycle and tried to enter the church a few minutes
after 8a.m.
He said: “He came with a motorcycle and tried to enter the
place but as a result of the security measures put in place,
he was blocked and the bomb exploded, killing him
instantly,” Atajiri said.
In his account, the head of the Nigerian Red Cross in
Gombe, Abubakar Yakubu said “there was an explosion
outside the ECWA church this morning. A suicide bomber
who was restrained from getting into the church blew
himself up. Luckily no one was killed but some people were
mildly injured.”
An eye witness, Malam Aminu Muhammad, whose house is
close to the blast scene, said he was indoors when he heard
a loud sound.
“When I heard the sound, I immediately came out, and what
I saw was horrible. I saw human parts scattered
everywhere with blood and pieces of motorcycle which the
suicide bomber rode on,” Muhammad said.
Another eyewitness, Dahiru Badamasi who lives in the
neighbourhood said the suicide bomber arrived during the
service at the Evangelical Church of West Africa in Gombe
and refused to park his motorcycle outside a security
barrier set up by volunteers.
“He insisted on riding through the barrier. It was while he
was arguing with the volunteers that his suicide belt
exploded.”
Another witness, Jummai Maifada said he heard an
explosion and rushed outside.
“I saw a man leading three children with their new dresses
stained with blood,” he said
Malam Abdullahi Isah, the Secretary, Gombe Specialist
Hospital, said 10 injured persons were brought to the
hospital.
According to him, the victims sustained various injuries and
were undergoing a treatment, adding that one of them was
taken to the theatre.
Gombe, has until recently been spared the violence that has
shaken the neighbouring states of Yobe, Borno and
Adamawa, where Boko Haram has taken around 20 towns.
On Wednesday a female suicide bomber was killed as she
tried to enter a military barracks in Gombe.
Seven others died in a bus explosion Wednesday in a village
close to Potiskum, in Yobe state.
President Goodluck Jonathan, had, Thursday, promised to
re-equip and re-position the armed forces “to enhance their
capacity to win the ongoing war against terror and
insurgency.”
He said:“We will bring justice to the savage terrorists
known as Boko Haram. They will be defeated. We will not
forget. We will not look the other way.” CLICK HERE TO READ FULL AND TOUCHING NIGERIAN CELEBRITIES BIOGRAPHY AND SCANDALS
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