ACF says mass killing of soldiers by Boko Haram national disaster

Northern leaders, under the aegis of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), have said that the killing of Nigerian soldiers by the Boko Haram’s insurgents in Melete, Borno State, should be seen as a national disaster, calling on the Federal Government to probe the unfortunate incident with a view to unveiling the truth.

The Arewa leaders deliberated on the mass killing of the soldiers by the insurgents and other issues of national concern at its last quarterly meeting of the year held at its headquarters in Kaduna yesterday.

The meeting, presided over by the Acting Chairman of ACF, Alhaji Musa Liman Kwande, was attended by executive council members from the 19 northern states and FCT Abuja.

In a statement, the National Publicity Secretary of the forum, Alhaji Mohammad Ibrahim Biu, said the meeting noted with grave concern the incidences of insecurity in the country, particularly the resurgence of the Boko Haram insurgency in Borno State, where they attacked the 157 Task Force Battalion, Metele, killing many Nigerians.

Meanwhile, the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Borno State has blamed the resurgence of insurgency on what it called serious failures of the government.

A delegation of leaders of the party in the state, which visited the national leadership in Abuja yesterday, alleged that Boko Haram has continued to operate in the state due to the actions of the state government.

“It is widely believed that the menace of Boko Haram has continued to persist in spite of the huge resources expended by the Federal Government through military operations. It is also clear that what is now feeding the insurgency is directly connected to the deeds and misdeeds of the Borno State government.”

The delegation led by former Special Adviser to the President on National Assembly Matters, Senator Mohammed Abba Aji, also accused the state government of pulling down all campaign posters and bill boards of the PDP in Maiduguri.

Abba Aji alleged that the government “constituted an illegal vigilante group known as ‘Boyes’ under the supervision of the attorney general of the state that goes about harassing members of the opposition parties, dismantling bill boards so that the visiting President Muhammadu Buhari will not notice the overwhelming support being enjoyed by PDP in the state.”

The delegation which said that the PDP was not opposed to the visit of the President, urged him to call the governor to order.