• Sokoto stakeholders decry Bello Turji’s terrorist activities 
• FG, Niger order illegal occupants to vacate Kainji National Park

Chairman of Hong Local Council of Adamawa State, Usman Inuwa, has confirmed a bomb blast in Mubang village that injured six persons within the council area. 

He attributed the explosion to Boko Haram, who attacked the same village and killed 14 people earlier in the month.

“Nobody was killed, only six people were injured and they are now receiving treatment at the hospital,” he said.

Inuwa said he usually organised a combined team of military personnel and vigilantes to guard the area, stating that the Boko Haram sect was always repelled whenever it initiated an attack.

Contacted, spokesman of Adamawa State police command, SP Suleiman Nguroje, said: Let me confirm from the DPO Hong.”

But he did not call back at press time.

ALSO, stakeholders from the troubled eastern senatorial district of Sokoto State have called on the government and security agencies to come to the aid of the Tidibale and other communities sacked by the activities of a notorious bandit, leader Bello Turji.

Secretary of the Sokoto Eastern Zone Development Association, Muazu Shamaki, confirmed that the recent video circulating on social media, where members of Tidibale are seen vacating their communities following an alleged threat from Bello Turji, was a trend that had subjected residents to untold hardship.

Shamaki said over 20 settlements had been affected by this trend.

MEANWHILE, the federal and Niger state governments have commenced plans for a major security operation aimed at flushing out terrorists, bandits and other criminal elements occupying the Kainji National Park forests and other hideouts in the state.

Governor Mohammed Umaru Bago disclosed this yesterday during a condolence visit to the Emir of Borgu, Muhammad Haliru Dantoro, following the recent killing of more than 42 villagers and the continued attacks by bandits in parts of the emirate.

According to the governor, security agencies would also intensify operations in other suspected hideouts within Borgu and Agwara council areas as part of a coordinated effort to reclaim the forests and restore peace to the affected communities.

Bago announced that illegal occupants of the Kainji National Park have been given two months to vacate the forest, while residents of villages and hamlets located in and around the forest areas have been directed to relocate within two weeks to avoid possible collateral damage during the operation.

He, however, did not disclose details of relocation arrangements for affected residents.

Also speaking, the Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Security, Dr Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi, who hails from the area, reaffirmed the Federal Government’s commitment to tackling insecurity in Niger and across the federation.