Tag: Jakana

Jakana Residents To Return Home After Evacuation

Jakana Residents To Return Home After Evacuation

 

The residents of Jakana, a town in Borno State are preparing to return home, three days after they were evacuated by the military.

An official of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Abdulkadir Ibrahim, disclosed this in a statement on Thursday.

Thousands of residents in Jakana, including children, women, and men, were relocated by troops on Monday evening to the Bakassi Internally Displaced People (IDP) camp in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital.

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The Nigerian Army explained that evacuation was for security reasons and to avoid collateral damage ahead of planned operations in the area.

Days after the residents were relocated, Ibrahim, an information officer with NEMA, disclosed that the army and camp management officials at Bakassi IDP camp were preparing to relocate the people back to their town.

According to him, the relocation of the evacuated people is necessary following the conclusion of military operations to flush out Boko Haram insurgents in the area.

The NEMA official explained that the exercise would commence with the evacuation of women, children, and the other vulnerable groups, before the men.

He added that food and non-food items were being mobilised by NEMA for distribution in Jakana town, to reduce the effect of the disruption of economic activities as a result of the evacuation.

Meanwhile, the United Nations has raised concern that up to 10,000 women, men and children in Jakana were in urgent need of food and shelter among other humanitarian assistance.

The UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria, Mr Edward Kallon, therefore, called on the Nigerian Government to ensure the people get the support they needed.

He also asked the government to protect the Jakana residents who he said were forced to relocate to Maiduguri

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UN Asks Nigerian Govt To Provide Food, Shelter For Jakana Residents

UN Asks Nigerian Govt To Provide Food, Shelter For Jakana Residents

 

The United Nations has called on the Nigerian Government to provide humanitarian assistance to up to 10,000 women, men and children in Jakana town in Borno State.

The UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria, Mr Edward Kallon, made the call in a statement on Wednesday by the Head of Communications, OCHA Nigeria, Samantha Newport.

Kallon also urged the government to protect the Jakana residents who he said were forced to relocate to Maiduguri, the state capital.

READ ALSO: Why We Relocated Jakana Residents To Maiduguri – Army

He explained that the military had ordered the “immediate departure of and forced the relocation” of up to 10,000 civilians on Monday evening.

The UN envoy added that the relocation took place in the middle of the night, without prior warning as the people were transported by bus or truck from Jakana to the Bakassi Internally Displaced People (IDP) camp in Maiduguri.

He, however, noted that the military said the civilians were relocated for security reasons ahead of planned operations in the area.

“The entire town of Jakana was emptied, and people were forced to move to Maiduguri with very little time to collect personal belongings,” said Mr Kallon. “Some people said they arrived in Maiduguri with nothing, not even with shoes on their feet.”

He added, “The United Nations is urging the Government to urgently provide safety, shelter, food, water and medical care to the displaced civilians, in addition to information about when they will be allowed to return home.”

The United Nations and its humanitarian partners also called on the Nigeria Government to take all possible practical measures to ensure the protection of civilians.

They also asked the government to ensure full respect of the rights of individuals in accordance with its obligations under international humanitarian law and international human rights law, as well as the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement.

The United Nations reaffirmed its commitment to supporting national and local efforts to ensure that civilians affected by the conflict in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states can access the humanitarian assistance and protection services they require.

Why We Relocated Jakana Residents To Maiduguri – Army

Why We Relocated Jakana Residents To Maiduguri – Army

 

The Nigerian Army has explained why the residents of Jakana, a town on the Maiduguri-Damaturu Expressway in Borno State, were evacuated from their homes.

The Deputy Director of Army Public Relations of the Operation Lafiya Dole Theatre Command and 7 Division, Colonel Ado Isa, disclosed that the decision was to avoid collateral damage in the course of operations.

He said there was an intense patrol ongoing at the fringes of the Lake Chad basin, code-named “Yanchin Tafki”, for which troops were providing blocking force in all areas of operations identified as possible routes for fleeing insurgents, including Jakana, Mainok, and other villages.

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In an interview with Channels Television on Tuesday, Colonel Isa explained, “There is credible information that in that general area.

“We have to conduct clearance operations because we don’t want to disclose to them (the residents) so they will not panic and it is part of the military drill that whenever we want to conduct such operations after having a credible information on the activities of the Boko Haram Terrorists elements, we normally evacuate and relocate all the people within that community for the safety of their lives and property, so that we can get the latitude to go on with our military operations. So that’s what we did yesterday.”

Hundreds of villagers had arrived at the Bakassi Internally Displaced People (IDP) camp in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital.

The villagers have been profiled by the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) at the camp which is located some 40 kilometres away from Jakana,.

Colonel Isa, however, distanced the army from allegations that the villagers were evacuated for being complicit by accommodating insurgents who were believed to have several routes and crossing points around Jakana.

He insisted that the troops had nothing to do with innocent villagers who had nothing to do with the insurgents.

“We are not after them; they did not commit any offence,” the Theatre Command spokesman said.

He added, “It is for their safety. The NEMA and the BOSEMA were all there, they profiled them, they registered them, and they are taking care of them and we equally announced to them that for those that have relations and loved ones within Maiduguri metropolis are free to go and stay with them.

“Nobody is denying them of their ancestral home. However, let them allow us to conduct our clearance operations because we don’t want to incur any collateral damage. So that is the main import of the evacuation since yesterday (Monday) and today. We were also at the IDP camp and we addressed all of them.”

Meanwhile, residents of neighbouring Damaturu, the Yoba State capital have reported an intense gun battle around the Red Bricks Estate in Maisandari, an estate situated at the entrance of the city.

Although it is not clear if the military is engaging armed assailants, residents have taken refuge in their homes as the shootout continues.

Damaturu is about 90 kilometres away from Jakana, where the military is conducting intensive clearance operations.

There are also reports of another attack in Gaidam Local Government Area of Yobe State on Monday, forcing residents to flee to nearby communities.

Information about both attacks is still sketchy at the time of this report.

Boko Haram Attack On Borno Town Was Repelled Successfully – Police

Boko Haram Attack On Borno Town Was Repelled Successfully – Police
File

 

Police say the attack on Jakana town in Konduga Local Government Area (LAG) of Borno State was successfully repelled by security operatives.

The spokesman for the Borno State Police Command, Edet Okon, confirmed this in a statement to Channels Television on Friday.

While the casualty figure has yet to be ascertained, Okon explained that members of the Boko Haram terrorist group invaded the town in about 30 vehicles on Thursday evening.

He said the police swiftly deployed combat units of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) and Counter Terrorism Unit (CTU) in the town to support the security operatives on the ground.

Sources had told Channels Television that the insurgents launched the attack, targeting a military base and the police station in the town.

But on arrival, they were engaged in a gunfight by troops of Operation Lafiya Dole of the Nigerian Army.

This lasted for more than two hours before the terrorists were chased out of the village by the security forces while the villagers were said to have fled into bushes for safety.

Jakana is a town located about 50 kilometres from Maiduguri, the Borno State capital.

It is situated along Maiduguri-Damaturu-Kano Highway, which is considered the safest route to and from Maiduguri.

The incident occurred just three days after a suicide bomber killed seven persons at Goni Modu Lashibe Mosque also in Konduga LGA.

Commissioner of Police in Borno, Mr Damian Chukwu, told reporters on Monday after the attack that seven people were also injured in the process.

He had consequently appealed to the people to be more proactive in reporting security threats in their environment to the security agencies.

“We need the public to be more security conscious, to be more preemptive. When they see faces that are not friendly or totally strange to their localities, they should promptly report to the security personnel, the Civilian Joint Task Force (JTF), or anybody through whom they know information can quickly reach the police, military, or any other security agency,” Chukwu had said.

Boko Haram Attacks Borno Town, Jakana

UN Condemns Borno Twin Bomb Explosion

 

Boko Haram insurgents on Thursday attacked Jakana, a town located about 50 kilometres from Maiduguri, the Borno State capital.

The terrorists launched the attack in the evening, targeting a military base and the police station in the town, but they were repelled by soldiers deployed under the Nigerian army’s Operation Lafiya Dole.

The attack and subsequent gun battle lasted for at least two hours before the insurgents were chased out of the village by federal forces, according to sources.

Villagers were reportedly left scampering into bushes for safety as the military engaged the armed group in a gun duel.

The military and emergency agencies have yet to issue any statement about the attack and to provide additional details about the impact.

Jakana town is situated along Maiduguri-Damaturu-Kano highway, which is considered the safest route to and from Maiduguri.

 

 

Army Loses Two Soldiers In Bama Ambush

soldiers and officers ArmyThe Nigerian Army says it lost two personnel on Thursday  in an ambush staged by fleeing Boko Haram members in operational areas in Borno state.

A military official said the ambush occurred along Konduga-Bama axis of the state recently visited by a Federal Government delegation led by the Minister of Information, Mr Lai Mohammed.

The Commanding Officer, a Lieutenant Colonel and a private soldier were killed in the attack, the theatre commander of the Operation Lafiya Dole, Major General Yusha’u Abubakar, told reporters in Maiduguri.

Major General Abubakar also said that the advancing troops, in an offensive operation, dislodged insurgents around Jakana and Alagarno axis of the state.

On Wednesday, Nigerian troops and the Borno Youths Empowerment, otherwise known as Civilian JTF on Wednesday foiled planned attacks by four suicide bombers in the outskirt of Maiduguri.

A military source said that at about 7.30am on Wednesday, four female suicide bombers were intercepted by troops and the Civilian JTF, ahead of a checkpoint about 25km away from Maiduguri the capital of Borno State.