"Boko Haram Shot At Us"- Akinyemi Speaks On FG Panel Members Visit To Borno.

A member of the Presidential Committee on the abducted Chibok schoolgirls, Prof. Bolaji Akinyemi, on Tuesday narrated how members of the committee were attacked by Boko Haram members in Bama, Borno State. Akinyemi, who is also the deputy chairman of the National Conference, disclosed this while advising delegates to be cautious in their reactions to the explosion that rocked Kano School of Hygiene on Monday. “We were attacked in Bama by Boko Haram and it took over 30 minutes of heavy fighting between the sect and the armed forces before we were rescued and taken away,” he said. A delegate from Kano State and a former President of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, Mallam Sani Zoro, had accused the Federal Government of not sympathising with the state government and the people over the Monday blast . Zoro also alleged that President Goodluck Jonathan did not commiserate with the state and its people after previous blasts. Though some delegates made efforts to resist his observations , Zoro said he was speaking with facts and challenged anyone with contrary information to challenge him. He said, “The President is in the habit of not sympathising with the Kano State Government and the people of the state anytime there was such act. “He is doing this because the state is being governed by the opposition. I’m speaking with facts and anyone who has any contrary opinion should challenge me with his or her facts. “This is condemnable and we should all rise to the occasion and caution the President. We cannot continue to have such behaviour from him because he is the leader of all.” As tempers rose, Akinyemi switched on his microphone and told the delegates about efforts being made by the Federal Government to address the security problems in the country. He said the committee on Chibok had visited many towns in the North with the hope of finding solutions to the crisis. The former External Affairs minister added that in the course of carrying out their assignment, the members of the committee were attacked by Boko Haram insurgents. He said, “It is bad that it is happening and our feelings and emotions should go to the families and people involved in this matter. “We should feel depressed and sad about this. We need not to politicise this matter. We need to write the Federal Government, the Kano State Government and the people involved in this (Kano blast) matter. “We have always carried ourselves along and we have never had a division in a matter of this nature. When a child is killed, we as parents, should feel aggrieved and condemn it.” He also told the delegates how a victim of the Boko Haram insulted the committee members. The former minister said when security agents attached to the committee attempted to stop the victim from speaking, he advised that he should be allowed . Akinyemi said when the victim opened his wound, all the committee members wept. After his intervention, the Chairman of the conference, Justice Idris Kutigi, asked the delegates to observe a minute silence for the Kano blast victims. Meanwhile, suspected Fulani cattle rustlers have killed 38 people in separate attacks on two villages in the Sanga Local Government Area of Kaduna State. A number of people were also injured in the attacks that took place on Monday night in Ankpon, Nandu District and Kabamu in Fadan Karshi. The LGA Chairman, Mr. Emmanuel Adamu, told journalists on the telephone that 21 people were killed in Fadan Karshi and 17 in Ankpon. Adamu described the incident which, according to him lasted four hours, as ‘‘unfortunate.’’ He condoled with the families of victims and appealed to the people to remain calm as adequate security measures had been put in place to halt further killings in the LGA. But his appeal and assurance did not stop the villagers from relocating en masse to neighbouring communities considered safe. The State Governor, Mukhtar Yero, while condemning the attack, called on residents of the two villages to remain calm as security operatives had been deployed to maintain law and order. Yero, who spoke through his spokesman, Mallam Ahmed Mayaki, said the attacks were carried out by some unpatriotic people in order to cause confusion in the state. The governor said he had given directives to security operatives to quickly commence investigation into what led to the renewed attack in the southern part of the state. He added that his government would not relent in ensuring that the people of the state lived in peace. Yero said, “No stone shall be left unturned in our resolve to bring the perpetrators of this attack and all other criminal assaults on our people in the past to justice. “We call on the people in Fadan Karshi and other parts of the state to remain calm as security forces have already been deployed in the area to maintain law and order. “We should remain united and resolute in resisting obvious attempts by agents of darkness to create confusion and sow seeds of discord in our state.” Also, on Tuesday, a Southern Kaduna-based group, Concerned Realists of Southern Kaduna, called for the declaration of a state of emergency in the state. The Convener of the group, Dr. John Danfulani, in a statement, said the world should know that there was a failure in handling security issues in the area by the federal and state governments. The statement read in part,“We make bold to state that the government of Kaduna State is causing crisis like we saw in Chawai Chiefdom where two persons lost their lives at the weekend following the forceful appointment of a traditional ruler while a case is pending in court. Similarly, four persons, incidentally couples, were killed. “We are reiterating our stand that Southern Kaduna security crises deserve a state of emergency in Kaduna State because terrorists are carrying out a gradual and systematic genocide in our communities.”