Minister of Interior, Abba Moro
The
Federal Government has said that it is increasing aerial surveillance
of the north-eastern part of the country as part of several steps to
check the violent activities of Boko Haram insurgents.
It also said that a committee set up to
evaluate the preparedness of security forces to combat terrorists in the
North-East had submitted its report and that the recommendations would
be implemented.
The Minister of Interior, Abba Moro, who
said this on Tuesday when he received a delegation from Dana Airlines,
said the committee had taken an inventory of government’s serviceable
and unserviceable aircraft and that the government would take
appropriate decision to empower security forces to overcome the security
crisis in the northern part of the country.
According to him, it is necessary to
take proper control of the country’s borders, especially in Borno, Yobe
and Adamawa states where the security challenges had been high.
Moro revealed that most of the
perpetrators of the mayhem in the country were foreigners, who entered
the country illegally through the porous borders.
The minister noted that the government
had been using three measures to check illegal entry at the borders viz:
constructing border plazas; deploying vehicular patrol and
technological equipment; and increasing aerial surveillance.
He said, “Since my visit to your (Dana)
office and inspection of our facilities, we have taken some other steps
to see how we can resuscitate our air border patrol.
“I had set up a committee to examine our
existing preparedness to undertake border patrol against the backdrop
of our existing aircraft; some that are serviceable and some that are
not serviceable and the report has been submitted.”
The Managing Director, Dana Airlines,
Mr. Mark Dornier, said the company was ready to partner with the
ministry by providing the necessary air training for immigration
personnel expected to take up the responsibility.
He said that his company currently had
two aircraft capable of delivering such service, saying the age of an
aircraft had nothing to do with its efficiency if properly maintained.
Meanwhile, reports from the troubled
North-East on Tuesday indicated that there was relative calm in Borno,
Yobe and Adamawa states as soldiers took the battle against the Boko
Haram insurgents to their hideouts.
Security sources confided in one of our
correspondents that the military had recorded a major success in the
battle against the insurgents since Friday when the soldiers launched a
new offensive.
“We have levelled some of the camps of
the insurgents around Damboa, Sambisa and Potiskum, Gujba and Goniri
axes. We have destroyed their camps and captured their armouries and we
are presently combing all their strongholds for more insurgents,” a
source said.
Another source added, “In Damboa, Ajigin
and Talala 400 insurgents were killed; in Sambisa, more than 200
corpses were brought and dumped near Bama; and in Potiskum, Gujba and
Goniri axis about 300 insurgents were killed.”
When contacted, the spokesman of 7
Division of the Nigerian Army, Lt. Col. Mohammed Dole, said there was an
ongoing clampdown on the hideouts of the sect but said details of
actual spots under siege and the number of casualties could not be
given.
Dole pleaded for patience, promising
that the army would soon come out with details of attacks on the
hideouts of the insurgents.
Meanwhile, the periphery of the
notorious Sambisa Games Reserve, the stronghold of the sect that borders
Bama town in Borno State, has become a Mecca of sort as many residents
of the state have started trooping to the area to see the corpses of the
insurgents dumped in the area by the military.
Comments
Post a Comment