Terrorism in Nigeria-In Kaduna and Zaria close to fifty parents will bury their own children.
And
Jonathan off to Brazil as Kaduna, Yobe burn
June 19, 2012 by Success Nwogu, Ilorin, David Attah, Kaduna
http://www.punchng.com/news/jonathan-off-to-brazil-as-kaduna-yobe-burn/
As violence continued in some parts of Kaduna State on Monday and fresh attacks were reported in Damaturu, Yobe State, President Goodluck Jonathan, will depart for Brazil today.
Jonathan is going to the Brazilian
commercial capital city, Rio de Janeiro, to take part in this year’s
United Nations’ Earth Summit. While in Rio de Janeiro, Jonathan is
expected to participate in the summit’s four plenary sessions at Rio
Centro Convention Centre on Wednesday and Thursday. He will also attend a
reception hosted by the Brazilian President for Heads of Government at
the summit.
The President is expected to travel with
his wife, Patience; Governors Ibrahim Shema and Seriake Dickson of
Katsina and Bayelsa states respectively.
Other people on the President’s
entourage are the Ministers of Environment, Mrs Hadiza Ibrahim
Mailafiya; Water Resources, Mrs Sarah Ohekpe; Trade and Investment, Mr.
Olusegun Aganga; and Senator Benedict Ayade. However, while the President will be in
the South American country, security forces will be working to contain
the crisis in Kaduna State where the death toll in Sunday’s multiple
bombing and consequent reprisal is said to have risen to 74.
Speaking to the News Agency of Nigeria on
Monday, officials of the Red Cross said that 140 victims of the attacks
had been taken to hospitals for treatment. Some of the hospitals where
the victims are being treated are the Ahmadu Bello Teaching Hospital,
Shika; Barau Dikko Hospital, Kaduna; St. Luke’s Hospital, Wusasa; and
St. Gerard’s Catholic Hospital, Kakuri. Three churches were attacked by suicide bombers on Sunday, triggering reprisals by Christian youths. Unconfirmed reports on Monday say there
were skirmishes at the Barnawa market area of the state, occupied
mainly by Muslims. Soldiers and policemen patrolled the streets to
maintain peace. Also in Damaturu, the Yobe State capital, there was
pandemonium on Monday as explosions and gunshots rocked the city. Reports indicate that the attacks
believed to have been launched by members of the Boko Haram sect started
at the Sabon Pegi area of the city in the evening.
An unconfirmed report says that the gunmen attempted to take over the government house, and the Potiskum Prison.
Channels TV reports that the
Joint Task Force Commander in the state, Col. Dahiru Abdulsalam, said
his men had moved into the town and the situation had been brought under
control.
Our correspondent on Monday reported
that hundreds of Kaduna residents besieged various hospitals in the
state in search of their relatives caught in the attacks. Medical personnel and workers at the St.
Gerard Catholic Hospital and the Barau Dikko Specialist Hospital,
reports say had hectic time treating scores of people that sustained
various degrees of injuries even as they coped with worried relatives in
search of their loved ones. Spokesman for the St.Gerard Catholic
Hospital, Mr. John Ali, said that the number of victims who died in the
hospital had risen to 39 while those who sustained injuries and were
being treated in the hospital were 72. Ali said the corpses had been evacuated by the state government.
A source who did not want his name
mentioned told our correspondent at the Barau Dikko Specialist
Hospital that 12 deaths were recorded while two others were receiving
treatment in the hospital.
At ABUTH, a worker who did not want his name in print said the number of dead victims at the hospital was 32. Suleiman Mani, a 20-year-old wood
cutter, said he was cutting firewood when a resident of the area told
him to leave the work and go away because the town was not safe. Narrating how he was attacked, Mani
said, “They hit me again and I fell down. The wanted to cut my head but
the machete landed on my hand as I tried to protect myself. They carried
a big stone and wanted to drop it on my head, but one woman who is also
my customer came to intervene as I lay on the ground. “They wanted to beat her but one man came and intervened and they took me on a bike to this hospital.”
Another victim, Aliyu Musa, 27, who is a commercial motorcyclist, said he was attacked at the Sabon Tasha area of the state. “I just dropped a passenger and I was
going back when I saw some people stopping motorbikes. They stopped many
of us and asked us to lie down and started beating us and smashing
blocks on us. “They said that they will kill us
because Boko Haram is killing Christians. They beat me so much that I
became unconscious. I don’t even know how I got here,” he said A photo journalist with Daily
Independent Newspaper, Mr. Nathaniel Jibrin, said, “My colleague from
Thisday newspaper called me that there was bomb blast in Trikania, and
that he was going there to take pictures. It was not long I closed from
the Church, so immediately I picked a commercial motorcycle and headed
for the place, but somewhere within the area, some people stopped us.
“I cannot remember what they were
saying, all of a sudden I found myself on the ground, with blood flowing
all over my body. It was two good Samaritans that brought me to this
hospital. Thank God I am getting better.” Meanwhile, tension rose in the Kaduna
metropolis on Monday as the state government relaxed the 24 hours curfew
imposed on the state following the outbreak of violence on Sunday. “I am rushing home right now. The Hausa
people seem to have mobilised for a fight. Please I have to rush home
before they start burning and killing,” a resident said.
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