By Timileyin Omilana Jihadists linked to an Islamic State insurgency group have registered their presence in Yobe State, despite cla...
By Timileyin Omilana
Jihadists linked to an Islamic State insurgency group have
registered their presence in Yobe State, despite claims from the Nigeria Army
that the state is free of terrorists.
Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) terrorists
Thursday dropped leaflets in Buni Gari region of the state threatening to
attack security officials in the region. ISWAP is a splinter group of Boko
Haram.
The leaflets, written in Hausa and sighted by Global
Sentinel, feature the black flag of ISIS and titled “Message From Jundul
Khialifa To People of Buni Gari” – from its English translation.
The identity and origin of those that distributed the
leaflets cannot be independently verified by The Guardian.
“You have been catching our brothers and killing them,
unfortunately, we don’t target you with our weapons,” the leaflets read.
“Our war is against the government and it’s official
(soldiers and police and vigilante and all those that assist them in fighting
us in anyway) anyone that is in this category, then he knows we will kill him
if we get an advantage on him.
“If you want to live in peace like you are living, then take
your hands off us,” it said.
The leaflet, however, is contrary to claims by the Nigerian
Army that the state is terrorism-free.
Despite arm fortifications, insurgents continue to launch
attacks in the region. In fact, the South Africa-based Institute for Security
Studies recently reported that the terrorists are extending its reach from
north-east Nigeria into the country’s north-west.
It added that the terrorists are taking advantage of old and
new local conflicts and insecurities to further embed themselves in the area
through violent extremism.
Since January 2019 thousands of people in the north-west
states of Kaduna, Katsina, Sokoto and Zamfara have been killed or injured.
Others have lost their livelihoods. At least about 23,000 persons have been
displaced and dozens have been abducted for ransom, nurturing an economy of
violence, ISS Africa reported.
Communities in the north-west and north-central Nigeria,
lacking state protection, are becoming increasingly vulnerable to the
converging threats.
Boko Haram launched a bloody insurgency in 2009 in
northeastern Nigeria but it later spread to neighbouring Niger, Chad and
Cameroon, prompting a military response.
United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian
Affairs says more than 30,000 people have been killed and nearly 3 million
displaced in the decade of Boko Haram’s terrorist activities in Nigeria.
Violence committed by Boko Haram has affected some 26
million people in the Lake Chad region and displaced 2.6 million others,
according to the UN Refugee Agency.
The United Nations last Friday said 10.6 million out of the
13 million people in the conflict-ravaged states of Borno, Adamawa and Yobe
would need humanitarian assistance this year.
It said the figures represented a 50-per cent increase since
last year and the highest tally since the beginning of the joint humanitarian
response five years ago.
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