Army, Ondo govt allay fears on Boko Haram attack

THE Nigerian Army and the Ondo State Government have dispelled the rumour that Boko Haram terrorists are planning an attack in the state.

This was contained in a statement made available to The Guardian by the Assistant Director, Army Public Relations, 32 Artillery Brigade, Owena Cantonment, Captain Adenegan Ojo, while denying a publication in one of the national dailies (not The Guardian) during the week on the arrest of some terrorists planning to attack the state.

The statement read: “Our attention has been drawn to a news story published by a newspaper in its page 7 of Wednesday, 19 August 2015 titled ‘Anxiety in four Ondo local govts over Boko Haram’ which reported that some suspected insurgents from Chad were arrested at Oke-Agbe Akoko in Akoko Northwest Local Council.

I am using this medium to inform the general public that the news story was not true, as no Boko Haram suspects were arrested anywhere in Ondo State.”

Adenegan explained that, “the Commanding Officer 323 Artillery Regime, Lt. Col Wo Ubi, had an interactive session with the members of National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) and other security agencies at Ikare Akoko, on the need to be vigilant and keep security agencies informed on any suspected persons or actions that could lead to security threat in the state.”

He stated that the Army chief at the session, “only recalled an effort by a commercial driver at Ifedore who alerted soldiers at a checkpoint on some suspected persons who were later arrested and handed over to the appropriate authority for further investigation. That was in June this year.”

According to him: “We were surprised that such an advice from the army commanding officer could be misquoted. We, therefore, once again inform the general public that there was no arrest of Boko Haram suspects anywhere in Ondo State.

We are using this medium to appeal to the public to discard such untrue information and go about their normal legitimate business and be assured that the security agencies in the state will continue to secure lives and property,” he said.

The State Commissioner for Information, Kayode Akinmade, said the misguided report is a ploy by unscrupulous persons to create tension among the people, insisting that the state remains the safest and most peaceful in the country.