John Ameh, Abuja
A member of the House of Representatives, Mr. Adamu Kamale, alleged on Monday that the Nigerian military often fed President Muhammadu Buhari with the wrong information on the capacity of Boko Haram to still carry out deadly strikes in the North-East.
Kamale, a member of the All Progressives Congress, represents Michika/Madagali Federal Constituency of Adamawa State.
The two local governments, particularly Madagali, have had a fair share of attacks and abductions by the dreaded sect.
Communities in the local governments are a stone’s throw from the boundary with Sambisa Forest, the insurgents’ safe haven from where they launch attacks on their victims.
Kamale, who spoke exclusively with The PUNCH, noted that while the military’s position of ‘decimating’ the insurgents sounded laudable, “the truth remains” that the group was still very active.
He disclosed that the situation in Madagali had been “grossly under-reported” in a series of security reports filed by the military to Buhari.
According to the lawmaker, no week passes without “one ugly incident or another” taking place in the border communities.
He added, “I am from this place (Madagali) and I can authoritatively tell you that my people are not safe. The military are always feeding Mr. President with the wrong information that things are normalising; it’s not true.
“We are happy that Mr. President made a reference to the Boko Haram issue in his broadcast to the nation when he returned from his medical vacation to the United Kingdom. He spoke of stepping up the war against Boko Haram and other forms of insecurity.
“However, we advise Mr. President to match the broadcast with actions because the insurgents are truly killing more people than he is even aware of, particularly in Michika/Madagali Local Government Areas of Adamawa State.
“In the past few days, over 10 lives and over 200 houses have been lost again. The security reports he gets on these two local governments are not detailed.
“The situation here is worse than the reports he gets from the military.”
Kamale had in December 2016 opposed a plan by the military to pull out troops from the North-East this year on the grounds that the insurgents had been weakened.
He had warned, “The situation today is such that government should deploy more troops in Madagali; nothing has changed much.
“Insurgents are still very active, kidnapping women and children and raping them.
“If the government contemplates withdrawing troops, it means insurgents will simply take over Madagali as a permanent territory.
“As we speak, insurgents live and operate just within two kilometres to the Sambisa Forest from Madagali.
“Thinking of withdrawing troops does not tally with the reality on ground.”
In December 2016, a twin bomb attack killed at least 60 people in Madagali market and left 77 others injured.
The local government was hit twice earlier in December 2015, while a popular motor back was also bombed by the insurgents.
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