Even as violence continues to breed its ugly head in Kaduna State and
fresh attack in Yobe, the Damaturu state capital, Jonathan is set for
yet another oversea trip to Brazil city of Rio de Janeiro to take part
in the United Nations Earth summit, an annual event.
Jonathan will
be at the Rio Centro Convention Center on Wednesday and Thursday to
participate in the the summit’s four plenary sessions. Thereafter, he
will also be meeting with the Brazilian President who will be hosting
the Heads of Government at the summit.
The President will be
making the trip with his wife, Patience; Governors Ibrahim Shema and
Seriake Dickson of Katsina and Bayelsa states respectively.
Other
people who may be joining the President’s entourage are the Ministers
of Environment, Mrs Hadiza Ibrahim Mailafiya; Water Resources, Mrs Sarah
Ohekpe; Trade and Investment, Mr. Olusegun Aganga; and Senator Benedict
Ayade.
However, while the President will be away in Brazil,
security forces will be working tirelessly to ensure that peace returns
to the troubled Northern region, especially in Kaduna where it was
confirmed that death toll as a result of the reprisal attacks has risen
to 74 .
Officials of the Red Cross said that over 140 victims of the attacks had been taken to hospitals for medical attention.
Meanwhile,
soldiers and other security men were seen in Kaduna patrolling along
the streets, while trying to quail further outbreak of violence. Also
in Damaturu, the Yobe State capital, it was reported explosions and
gunshots rocked the city on Monday.
It was reported that gunshots
and bombing started at the Sabon Pegi area of the city in the evening
when some Boko Haram militants struck to take over the government house
and Potiskum prison in order to release some inmates.
An unconfirmed report says that the gunmen attempted to take over the government house, and the Potiskum Prison.
Channels
TV reports that the Joint Task Force Commander in the state, Col.
Dahiru Abdulsalam, said his men had moved into the town and the
situation had been brought under control.
Our correspondent on
Monday reported that hundreds of Kaduna residents besieged various
hospitals in the state in search of their relatives caught in the
attacks.
Medical personnel and workers at the St. Gerard Catholic
Hospital and the Barau Dikko Specialist Hospital, reports say had hectic
time treating scores of people that sustained various degrees of
injuries even as they coped with worried relatives in search of their
loved ones.
Spokesman for the St.Gerard Catholic Hospital, Mr.
John Ali, said that the number of victims who died in the hospital had
risen to 39 while those who sustained injuries and were being treated in
the hospital were 72.
Ali said the corpses had been evacuated by the state government.
A
source who did not want his name mentioned told our correspondent at
the Barau Dikko Specialist Hospital that 12 deaths were recorded
while two others were receiving treatment in the hospital.
At ABUTH, a worker who did not want his name in print said the number of dead victims at the hospital was 32.
Suleiman
Mani, a 20-year-old wood cutter, said he was cutting firewood when a
resident of the area told him to leave the work and go away because the
town was not safe.
Narrating how he was attacked, Mani said,
“They hit me again and I fell down. The wanted to cut my head but the
machete landed on my hand as I tried to protect myself. They carried a
big stone and wanted to drop it on my head, but one woman who is also my
customer came to intervene as I lay on the ground.
“They wanted to beat her but one man came and intervened and they took me on a bike to this hospital.”
Another victim, Aliyu Musa, 27, who is a commercial motorcyclist, said he was attacked at the Sabon Tasha area of the state.
“I
just dropped a passenger and I was going back when I saw some people
stopping motorbikes. They stopped many of us and asked us to lie down
and started beating us and smashing blocks on us.
“They said that
they will kill us because Boko Haram is killing Christians. They beat me
so much that I became unconscious. I don’t even know how I got here,”
he said
A photo journalist with Daily Independent Newspaper, Mr.
Nathaniel Jibrin, said, “My colleague from Thisday newspaper called me
that there was bomb blast in Trikania, and that he was going there to
take pictures. It was not long I closed from the Church, so immediately
I picked a commercial motorcycle and headed for the place, but
somewhere within the area, some people stopped us.
“I cannot
remember what they were saying, all of a sudden I found myself on the
ground, with blood flowing all over my body. It was two good Samaritans
that brought me to this hospital. Thank God I am getting better.”
Meanwhile,
tension rose in the Kaduna metropolis on Monday as the state government
relaxed the 24 hours curfew imposed on the state following the outbreak
of violence on Sunday.
“I am rushing home right now. The Hausa
people seem to have mobilised for a fight. Please I have to rush home
before they start burning and killing,” a resident said.
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