Monday, November 10, 2014

School Bombing: Mayhem Averted as Irate Potiskum Residents Confront Soldiers
11 Nov 2014
Michael Olugbode in Damaturu
Nigeria ThisDay

What could have been a major riot was averted on Monday when soldiers were forced to leave the site of the Potiskum school suicide bomb blast.

Irate residents of the town, upon sighting the soldiers, were ready to engage them in a battle.
The residents, who were armed with sticks, were protesting the second suicide bombing in one week in Potiskum, coupled with the indiscriminate shooting and unruly behaviour by the soldiers.

The soldiers arrived at the school premises to rescue the injured students and convey the corpses to the hospital. However, they were greeted with protest chants, “We are better off without you", “We do not want you again in our town,” “You are useless to us”, from the irate crowd.

Upon seeing the magnitude of the protest, the soldiers were forced to put their vehicles in reverse gear and sped off from the scene in order to forestall a mob attack.

When contacted moments after the incident, the Yobe State Commissioner of Police, Markus Danladi, said he was on his way to the scene of the incident, as he had no details.

But on getting to Government Comprehensive School, Potiskum, Danladi who arrived in the company of the state Commissioner for Education, was not allowed to pass by the angry mob, which had barricaded the area attacked by the bomber.

Speaking to journalists after he was forced to retreat, the CP said all security personnel were forced to stay away from the scene of the blast for the sake of peace.

He however visited the palaces of the two emirs in Potiskum to commiserate with them over the suicide bomb blast and to seek their cooperation in the maintenance of law and order.

The CP urged the emirs to educate their subjects on the importance of security personnel at this critical time, stressing that the support of the people in fighting terrorism cannot be overemphasised.

The Chairman, Yobe State Council of Chiefs, Alhaji Mohammadu Abali Ibn Idrisa, who is the Emir of Fika, and his Potiskum counterpart, Alhaji Umaru Bubaram Ibn Wuriwa Bauya, told the CP that they had mobilised some elders in their respective domains to educate the mob on the need for peace reign and to allow the security men do their work.

The leader of the Shia group in Potiskum, Mustapha Lawan Nasidi, had last week after the bomb blast that killed his members, accused the military of opening fire on his men and killing several people.

The rejection of security and military personnel in Potiskum may not be unconnected with this and the extra-judicial killing of 16 men who were picked up by Nigerian troops.

Despite the protest at the school, Potiskum was calm and the streets were deserted yesterday.
Potiskum, the largest commercial town in Yobe State, has had its fair share of terrorist attacks since the beginning of the insurgency.

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