Alarm was raised as it was learnt that suspected Boko Haram militants allegedly stole dynamites from a cement factory near Gombe following the Tuesday attack.
The Nation reports that 8 truck loads of dynamites were carried away from Ashaka Cement. It would be recalled that the gunmen stormed Nafada, having blown a police station and the PDP secretariat, and then robbed a bank.
The largest cement factory in Northern Nigeria was reportedly raided at about 3pm. An employee, Amadu Wunti, said the attackers looted high explosives.
His words were confirmed by several other witnesses, with one of them saying:
“They [the militants] pulled out after the raid. They did not hurt or kidnap anyone. But they took eight company vehicles and lots of dynamite used in quarry work. The attackers, which included young women, broke into the store and loaded dynamite into the vehicles and drove off.”
The incident came barely a week after suspected Boko Haram insurgents had detonated a bomb at the motor part of the state capital Gombe.
It would be recalled that on November 2 terrorists used dynamite to blast open a jail in Kogi State having allowed 132 prisoners to escape.
Members of the BringBackOurGirls group blasted the authorities for hiding the facts about the stolen dynamites. Dr Eman Shehu said:
“When Boko Haram attacked the Ashaka Cement factory in Gombe, what the government and military failed to tell Nigerians is that Boko Haram carted away with dynamites and food stuff. This is really a dangerous situation because those dynamites can be used by the insurgents to create more explosives that will create more havoc.”
READ ALSO: Boko Haram Can Take North-East In 3 Months
The preliminary investigation showed that suspected insurgents raided the cement factory for explosives for their operation and “perhaps for more dastardly attacks”, a senior military source disclosed, adding however that they failed to do that due to the timely interference of the military.
“But they did not succeed at all because they could not get the explosives. And troops were quickly mobilised to repel them. We have regained the control of the area. And security has been beefed up in all parts of Gombe State.”
No comments:
Post a Comment