The new Theatre Commander of Operation Lafiya Dole, Maj-Gen. Rogers Nicholas, has urged the people living in the northeast to be security-conscious and vigilant for suicide bomb attacks by Boko Haram during the Christmas and the New Year festivities.

Nicholas raised the alert yesterday in a statement by the Deputy Director, Army Public Relations, Col. Onyema Nwachukwu, in Maiduguri.

He said it was imperative for the people to be vigilant and monitor suspicious persons in their communities, places of worship and other public places during the festivities, as fleeing insurgents could take advantage of the relaxed vigilance and security measures to attack soft targets.

Nicholas added: “An assessment of recent trend of Boko Haram insurgents’ Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) campaign indicated a deliberate targeting of places of worships, as witnessed in the disheartening incident of the suicide bombings.

“One of the reasons adduced for easy infiltration by suicide bombers is the absence of measures to scrutinise and identify persons accessing these facilities.

“Most places of worship have been found to exhibit similar deficiency and have lowered their guards, thereby exposing themselves to preventable attacks.”

He noted that with the Yuletide around the corner, residents should devise strict security checks in their respective places of worship and social gatherings.

He called on religious and community leaders to sensitise and mobilise their people to be security-conscious to prevent any attack by insurgents, noting that several insurgents were killed or captured in recent times, while many others voluntarily surrendered through the military’s safe corridors.

He warned: “Some of the insurgents, however, escaped with gunshot wounds and might be seeking help and treatment in any available health facility in the country.

“Unsuspecting persons have inadvertently provided such fleeing insurgents with support without recourse to the security agencies.”

He, therefore, called on communities to report such fleeing wounded insurgents to security agencies.

Nwachukwu disclosed that the fleeing insurgents left several Unexploded Ordnances (UXO) and IEDs scattered within the theatre of operation, noting that the bombs were harmful to unsuspecting members of the public.