B’Haram renames Mubi, rejects polls in Adamawa:

Militant Islamist sect, Boko Haram, has renamed
Mubi as ‘Madinatul Islam,” meaning the city of
Islam.The action is further confirmation that the
sect was in total control of the town which it
recaptured last week after troops stationed there
withdrew. Boko Haram had earlier hoisted its flag
in some parts of the town, including the Palace of
the Emir, which serves as its administration
headquarters.On Monday, the sect announced the
introduction of Sharia and the amputation of 10
people in the town, the second largest in the
state.A trapped resident, Aliyu Bala, who disclosed
the renaming of Mubi on Tuesday, also said that
the sect had set up check-points in strategic parts
of the community.“They are keeping vigil in every
nook and cranny of the town and calling on
residents who ran away to come back to their
homes. They are also asking those in communities
in the four Local Government Areas which they
captured to return because their safety will be
assured,” Bala added.He said that despite the
assurance that they would be better protected
under an Islamic Caliphate, some residents of
Mubi, who stayed back when the insurgents
stormed the town, were sneaking out.
A lawyer, Sunday Wugira, who went to Maiha to
pick up his aged parents who fled to the village
when Mubi was captured, also confirmed that
many trapped residents were secretly fleeing.
He said, ‘‘I was in Maiha a few hours ago, the
plight of the people I saw was simply beyond
imagination. We were in a commercial bus when
some fleeing soldiers said we must adjust for them
to get space in the bus.”Salisu Baba, a resident of
Uba, one of the captured communities, said the
insurgents also warned politicians not to hold any
election in the state.“The insurgents don’t want
any election. They have restated their vow to
capture the whole state in no distant time,” he
added.Baba said the insurgents assured residents
of free movement anytime of the day and the use
of their motorcycles.He said, “The insurgents have
assured people of total freedom and have been
telling shop owners to open their shops threatening
that anyone who fails to open his shop will have
the shop broken.“Whenever the insurgents want
any commodity, they pay for it. This encouraged
meat and tea sellers and others to open for
business.
“They provided security during the market day in
Uba last Thursday while promising to continue to
give marketers and residents who come to the area
utmost security as long as they complied with
Islamic rules.“They also opened one of the filling
stations belonging to A.A Garba in Uba as
motorists’ trooped out to buy petrol.”
Meanwhile, the state government has banned the
use of motorcycles in seven LGAs as part of
measures to contain the security situation in
state.A statement by Phineas Elisha, the director
of Press and Public Affairs to Governor Bala Ngilari,
urged the public and security operatives to ensure
compliance.
The affected LGAs are Hong, Gombi, Song, Girei,
Numan, Demsa and Fufore.In Nafada LGA of
Gombe State, gunmen suspected to be Boko
Haram members on Tuesday killed 10 people.It
was learnt that they had earlier killed an
unspecified number of soldiers on duty at the
checkpoint in Nafada.A resident of the area told
journalists on the telephone that the attackers
stormed the town around 11am in four Hilux vans
and motorcycles, wielding guns and shooting
sporadically into the air.He said they immediately
set the Police station and the Local Government
secretariat ablaze.
“The gunmen then went to the house of an Islamic
cleric named Adamu Misira and opened fire on him
and nine other people that were there with him, ”
the resident who did not want his name in print
said.When contacted, the state Police
Commissioner, Kudu Nma, said he had yet to hear
of the incident.The Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief
Marshal Alex Badeh, on Tuesday said that Nigeria
was not helpless despite the continued onslaught
by Boko Haram.He spoke with State House
correspondents when he led service chiefs to the
Presidential Villa, Abuja.Journalists had asked
Badeh to react to the loss of his hometown in
Adamawa State to members of the sect and the
burning of his house.Badeh, who had earlier
declined comment however changed his mind when
he was asked if the nation was helpless in the face
of the renewed onslaught.The security chief said
he was pained by any town lost to the sect
irrespective of whether it is his hometown or
not.He also said he carried the weight of the sect
whenever any house is burnt regardless of whether
the house belonged to him or other
Nigerians.Badeh said, “How can Nigeria be
helpless? That is unfair. If CDS loses his
hometown, it is the same thing as losing Lagos.
Any part of Nigeria that is lost, the CDS carries the
weight.
“It is immaterial whether it is my hometown,
whether it is my house that is burnt or it is
Emeka’s house that is burnt. Whoever’s house is
burnt in Nigeria, the CDS is pained.”He however did
not reply when he was asked to respond to the
various calls for his removal.He quickly rushed into
his car amidst the confusion caused by his orderly
who engaged journalists in altercation while trying
to keep them away.