Boko Haram crisis: Obasanjo’s son shot in ambush

Boko Haram militants have reportedly shot and wounded Lt Col Adeboye Obasanjo, the son of former president Olusegun Obasanjo. Lt Col Obasanjo, an army engineer, was shot yesterday along with some other military officers when they tried to re-take Bazza town in northern part of Adamawa from the militants who seized it and neighbouring Michika […]

Boko Haram militants have reportedly shot and wounded Lt Col Adeboye Obasanjo, the son of former president Olusegun Obasanjo.

Lt Col Obasanjo, an army engineer, was shot yesterday along with some other military officers when they tried to re-take Bazza town in northern part of Adamawa from the militants who seized it and neighbouring Michika on Sunday.
There was no official confirmation of the shooting but military sources told Daily Trust in Yola that the former president’s son and some officers had been shot and wounded.
“It is true that he (Lt Col Obasanjo) and many others have been wounded,” one source said in confidence. “They have already been brought to the Federal Medical Centre, Yola, for treatment.”
The source did not disclose the level of injury or the number of those injured.
He said they were brought under heavy security.
Hundreds of soldiers and many military vehicles and weapons were seen entering Yola yesterday.
The source declined to disclose whether the soldiers and their weapons were being returned to Yola from the northern part of the state after failing to dislodge the militants or they were brought from elsewhere in preparation for attack on them.
An associate of Obasanjo, Malam Mohammed Keffi, also confirmed to the BBC Hausa that the former president’s son was injured but that he was in stable condition.
“Yes, the son of former president, Olusegun Obasanjo was shot. I spoke to the former president and I told him that there was a report that your son Adeboye has been shot, he told me that he was aware of the information and had even spoke to him,” Malam Mohammed said.
“He told me that they left Mubi on their way to Michika when Boko Haram attacked them, and he was shot, but that he was in a stable condition. Adeboye spoke with his father who is now in Singapore. He is recovering.”
B/Haram holds Michika, others
Meanwhile, Boko Haram militants have consolidated their control of Michika, Bazza, Gulak and Madagali towns in northern part of Adamawa State, residents said yesterday.
The insurgents captured Michika and Bazza on Sunday after seizing Gulak and Madagali earlier.
They reportedly killed many people in Michika and Bazza where they have also reportedly hoisted their flags.
Attempts by the army to recapture Bazza yesterday was said to have been repulsed by the militants.
A source in Michika said military jets dropped bombs around Kofan Sarki area in the town.
“Aircraft dropped bombs on some houses including the residence of a friend of mine, Alhaji Baba, but the insurgents are still there,” he said.
Transport fares have rocketed as more people flee the commercial city of Mubi, also in northern Adamawa, amid fears of impending Boko Haram attack.
Hundreds were reportedly stranded at motor parks and road junctions.
A man fleeing from Mubi told Daily Trust in Yola that getting a vehicle had become a major challenge for residents who decided to leave.
“I could not get vehicles to convey me and my family to Yola until I sought assistance of my in-law who is a commercial driver. Many people are there waiting in vain and the scarcity has affected the prices which rose from N800 to N4000 per passenger. The aim is just to leave,” he said.
Commercial drivers plying the Yola-Mubi road confirmed this, saying the price increase was necessary as many drivers are reluctant to travel north for security reasons.
The displaced persons are being accommodated at the NYSC orientation camp in Girei and a primary school in Doubeli, Jimeta, where registration has begun.
Some of them told Daily Trust they were well fed but decried lack mattresses and blankets, saying most of them slept on the floor.
The Camp Director of the Nigeria Red Cross Society, Abdulmumini Adamu, said he had already requested for additional mattresses from the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA).
Meanwhile children and young people separated from their parents have appealed to Adamawa and Borno governments to set up desks at camps to provide information about missing family members.
Ahmadu Abdullahi, a boy of 12, said he separated from his family during the last attack on Gwoza and since then he lived in three camps in Madagali, Mubi and Yola.
“I have not heard about my father and mother after we separated in Gwoza. I will be happy to know what happened to them or to reunite with them if they are still alive,” he said.
A resident of Yola who hailed from Madagali, Ali Uratu, said more than 200 people fleeing from northern Adamawa slept in his five-bedroom house at Karewa GRA in Yola.