Nigeria: Jonathan Attacks "Clueless" Emergency Rule Critics - Praises Youth Fighting Boko Haram
Dozens of youth in
northeast states, seeking out and handing over Boko Haram insurgents to
soldiers, are "new national heroes" whose collaboration with the
military, enforcing emergency rule in the area, has proven critics of the
operation "clueless", President Goodluck Jonathan said Sunday.
Mr. Jonathan denied
mostly foreign media reports that thousands of Nigerians were fleeing to Niger,
to escape harsh tactics by soldiers sent into Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states
under the emergency rule he declared a month ago.
"The bulk"
of those displaced to neighbouring Niger, are nationals of that country who are
simply retuning home, the president claimed in a statement by his spokesperson,
Doyin Okupe, on Sunday.
"Also contrary
to a report in some media that 8,000 Nigerians were fleeing to Niger Republic
as a result of the emergency rule, the National Emergency Management Agency and
the Borno State government have confirmed that only 126 Nigerians have so far
been displaced by the operations and that the bulk of the refugees referred to
in the report were Nigeriens returning to Niger," the statement said.
The president said
his decision to declare state of emergency in the three states was
"timely, effective and strategically unassailable" as it was clear
the war on extremist fighters responsible for thousands of deaths, was being
won.
That success, to a
large extent, was possible with the cooperation of residents who have
reportedly taken upon themselves to hunt insurgents and turn them over to
security offices, he added.
Dozens of youth now
bandy together as vigilante groups, armed with sticks, iron bars, and axes, as
they go about searching for Boko Haram members. Many of their quarries,
surrendered to the soldiers, are reportedly summarily executed.
During a recent
revenge mission, the insurgents concealed arms in a coffin to evade military
checkpoints, before launching an attack on some members of the vigilante. The
fighting left more than a dozen people dead, reports say.
In his first reaction
to the development, Mr. Jonathan praised the bravery of the youth, calling them
"heroes".
"Without doubt,
these youths are the new national heroes who have risen up to the occasion in
an unprecedented patriotic fashion to work together with their government by going
after their tormentors. This is heart-warming and clearly indicative of an
awakened consciousness of civic responsibility," the president said.
He said a prove to
the restoration of normalcy in the affected areas is the reopening of markets,
schools, and that sacked communities are being re-inhabited while commercial
activities in major towns in the affected states are approaching pre-insurgency
period.
The president
launched attack on critics who condemned the emergency declaration and his
recent proscription of Boko Haram and Ansaru.
"The results
have proven that the opposition political leaders who opposed the decision on
the emergency rule as well as the proscription of terrorist groups are actually
clueless and unfortunately blinded by their political pursuits," the
statement said.
Nigeria
President Goodluck
Jonathan has called on governors to be alive to their constitutional
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