Mubi: Military Flush Out Boko Haram …As Another Bomb Scare Hits Minna

The Nigerian Army has recaptured Mubi Adamawa State from militant Islamist group, Boko Haram, the state governor has said.
A resident of the town confirmed to reporters that he had seen the bodies of many Boko Haram fighters.Mubi was the biggest town under the group’s control and is the first it has lost since August, when it declared a caliphate in areas it had seized.Boko Haram still controls several towns and villages in north-eastern Nigeria.
Thousands have been killed since it launched its insurgency in 2009.Boko Haram last month dismissed the government’s claims to have agreed a ceasefire.
The militants seized Mubi, the second largest town in the north-eastern Adamawa State, in October, renaming it Madinatul Islam – City of Islam. Residents there said militants imposed Islamic Sharia law and carried out executions and amputations.
Adamawa State Governor, Bala Ngilari said government forces had recaptured the town, in alliance with local vigilante groups and traditional hunters. He said it was “time to rejoice” and the insurgents were “on the run”.
The resident, who is not being named for his own safety, told the BBC Hausa service that civilians had not yet returned to the town, as they feared Boko Haram might try to attack again.He said there were still not very many soldiers there, and most of the fighting had been done by vigilante groups and hunters, adding that he had seen the local leader of Boko Haram in handcuffs after being captured.
The authorities have not commented on this.
Meanwhile, there was another bomb scare in Minna, the Niger State capital yesterday when a man dressed in school uniform attempted to find his way into a girl science secondary school in the early hours when the students were on the assembly ground.
This was coming barely 24 hours after a female bomber detonated a bomb at the entrance of the Federal College of Education, Kontagora in the state killing herself and injuring two others.
This time around the target was Maryam Babangida Girls Science Secondary School, in Minna, the State capital where the suspected bomber had wanted to go and unleash terror on the school.
According to the Principal of the school, Hajiya Fatima Madugu, who narrated how the suspect wanted to find his way into the school premises, said that the man entered the school through a foot path and hid himself in the bush waiting for the assembly to commence.
She said a female teacher in the school(name withheld) who followed the same foot path sighted the suspected bomber who was already dressed in the school uniform.
The principal disclosed that though the suspected bomber initially did not see the teacher , the sound of her mobile phone which rang in the process however, attracted him (the man) who immediately turned to her direction.
According to her, “the man after sighting the teacher questioned her in Hausa Language and wanted to know what she was looking for but the teacher told him that she was going to school and the man warned her to go back if she does  not want to die.’’
It was at that point that she said the female teacher removed her shoes and took to her heels and immediately called her (the principal ) and alerted her.
The principal said she immediately contacted the nearby police station and they mobilized their men to the school.
Narrating her experience, the female teacher stated that she took the footpath (short cut) to enable her get to school early and meet up with her 8:00 am lesson, only to be accosted by the unknown man that asked her to return home, if she wanted to be safe.
” I was really scared, when I saw the man almost dressed in the school uniform. The man has already worn the trouser, shirt and about to put on the Hijab (veil) when I sighted him and it was because of the smell of Indian hemp that made me look at his direction.
The man told me ‘go home, there is no school today. Go if you love your life’, and I just took off my shoes and ran back. But, instead of going home, I went to inform our principal on the assembly ground.”
The development however, led to panic and confusion in the school as both the staff and students began to run for their lives.
However, the arrival of both the military and the police quickly brought the situation under control.

Eze Nwe-Eli Omofo lV, Eze Edison Omeodu (middle), Senator Magnus Abe (2nd right), Chief Andrew Uchendu and other dignitaries, during the coronation ceremony of Eze Edison Omeodu as the Eze Nwe-Eli Omofo lV, last Saturday in Emohua. Photo: Chris Monyanaga