Yobe college massacre:Senate tells Army HQ to relocate to Maiduguri

The Senate yesterday told the Chief of Army Staff to mobilise troops and relocate temporarily to the headquarters of the 7th Division in Maiduguri so as to end the insurgency in parts of the North-East, following the massacre of college students in Yobe State.Dozens of teenage male students of the Federal Government College Buni Yadi […]

The Senate yesterday told the Chief of Army Staff to mobilise troops and relocate temporarily to the headquarters of the 7th Division in Maiduguri so as to end the insurgency in parts of the North-East, following the massacre of college students in Yobe State.
Dozens of teenage male students of the Federal Government College Buni Yadi were killed by suspected Boko Haram gunmen in an overnight attack on Monday.
A hospital worker was quoted to have said the death toll reached 59 by Tuesday evening, but Yobe State officials insisted yesterday that the total number of those killed was 29.
During a budget hearing by the Senate Committee on Defence yesterday, committee chairman Thompson Sekibo told Army Chief Lieutenant-General Kenneth Minimah to quickly move to Maiduguri, Borno State, and take other steps to contain the violence.
He also urged President Goodluck Jonathan to mobilise necessary resources for the security forces to battle the insurgency.
“(This) battle must be won to sustain our nation’s stability and unity as it is only in the atmosphere of peace and tranquility that development can be carried out,” Sekibo said.
“We hereby, as the committee overseeing your activities, direct that your office relocate temporary to the 7th Division in Maiduguri and that you take urgent and appropriate steps to quell the situation.”
Sekibo gave the instruction at a session attended by commanders of Army divisions.
The meeting was meant to discuss the Army’s allocations in the 2014 Federal budget, but the committee said this must be shelved because of the urgency regarding the violence.
“Because of the situation, the committee will receive your budget proposal without going through the lines as no one goes to the town square to dance when there is fire in his house,” Sekibo said.
Sekibo also told the Army officers to change their strategy so as to curb the excesses of the Boko Haram sect.
“From today all schools and health institutions should be provided with special security, as we do not want a repeat of these killings of our innocent citizens. For us the quelling of this insurgency and giving confidence of safety to Nigerians is of utmost priority,” he added.
The Senate committee’s demand for Army HQ relocation to Maiduguri came after the House of Representatives passed a similar resolution on February 17, in the wake of series of killings in Borno State in which more than 100 people died.
Sekibo said the committee will undertake a tour of the three insurgency-affected states of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa when the Senate resumes plenary sitting in March.
Mark: This violence must end
Meanwhile, Senate President David Mark condemned the killing of children as animalistic and barbaric, saying also it was curious that the latest violence happened under a state of emergency.
“Even in war situations, children and women were always spared. This open declaration of war on everybody especially defenseless students cannot be justified. This is inhuman, it is animalistic and barbaric. It is unthinkable that this is happening in Nigeria,” Mark said, according to a statement by his spokesman Paul Mumeh.
‘It is also curious that under an emergency rule when security operatives should be on red alert, this mayhem still persists. Honestly, this calls for soul searching and I believe the security authorities must rise to this challenge.”
Also, Senate Leader Victor Ndoma-Egba issued a statement, saying the college massacre has “crossed the border of decency.”
“It is obvious that we are now dealing with a bunch of animals to whom human life is now totally meaningless and worthless because when you attack students, you are attacking the foundation of the country’s future,” Ndoma-Egba (PDP, Cross River) said.
“This attack, to me, is to plunge the nation into a bleak and blank future. There would be need for us to modify our security strategy to include hot pursuit; this is permissible in international law if your neighbour is not taking concrete steps to halt these insurgents as it’s now clear that they hit us from there and go back there to hide.”
‘Death toll remains 29
In Damaturu, Yobe chairman of the Parent-Teacher Association (PTA), Alhaji Kati Machina, said they were waiting for Federal Government’s approval to bury copses of the students burnt beyond recognition in the Buni Yadi attack.
He said majority of bodies identified were handed over to their parents for burial while the “eight bodies that were burnt beyond recognition are currently in the hospital morgue.”
He said the association has communicated to the Minister of Education Nyesom Wike on whether to bury the unidentified corpses. “The Minister said he will present the issue at the Executive Council Meeting today (yesterday) before giving any instruction,” he said.
But a spokesman for the minister, Mr. Simeon Nwakaudu, said the ministry did not receive any letter from Yobe in respect of burial for the deceased students.
The PTA chairman also said that the number of bodies recovered in the school was still 29 as no dead corpse was recovered from the bush, contrary to a report by Reuters news agency Tuesday night which was also quoted in yesterday’s Daily Trust newspaper.
A spokesman for the Yobe State Government, Abdullahi Bego, also said by telephone from Damaturu that the number of the dead was 29 and not 59.
A Daily Trust correspondent, who visited the Sani Abacha Specialist Hospital Damaturu yesterday, found that three of the four students with bullet wounds were recovering.
Hospital official Dr Fika said the other wounded student with a bullet in his back had been referred to the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital for surgery.