1.2m Exposed To Landmine Explosions In North East – Shehu

Group Captain Sadiq Shehu (rtd) has said 1.2 million people comprising returnees, internally displaced persons (IDPs) and members of the host communities in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states are exposed to explosive remnants of the decade-long Boko Haram insurgency.

Shehu further said that in 2022, 639 incidents of bomb explosions were recorded which resulted in the death of 223 civilians, while in 2023, 376 incidents of bomb explosions resulted to 151 deaths in the affected areas in the states.

He said no fewer than 1,366 explosions targeting civilians by insurgents have been recorded in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe within the past five years.

To this end, he appealed to the Federal Government to undertake a comprehensive mine-risk awareness and clearance campaign in the North East to stem the risks caused by the explosives in the region.

Shehu spoke in a paper he presented at a stakeholders’ engagement programme on the current security challenges in the North East, which began on Thursday in Maiduguri.

In the paper titled, “Dangers of Landmines and other Explosive Ordinances in North East”, the security expert further revealed that 755 civilians were killed and 1,321 injured by the explosive ordinances (EO) within the period.

“It has been estimated that approximately 1.2 million individuals in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states continued to be affected by the widespread and indiscriminate use of explosives, including refugees, IDPs, returnees, children and host communities,” he stated.

While noting the efforts of government and international organisations in containing the threat of EO, Shehu called for the implementation of the North East Development Commission’s report on mine risk awareness and mine clearance in the region.

He said there is the need to expand the landmine risk awareness and explosive ordinance education in the affected areas and called for the training of community volunteers on improvised explosives detection who would retrain others.

In his remarks, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Sen George Akume, said President Bola Tinubu was concerned about the challenges and has been working assiduously to contain them.

Akume, represented by a permanent secretary in his office, Mr David Attah, said the Federal Government in collaboration with states in the region, had introduced far-reaching kinetic and non-kinetic measures to address the challenges.

“The sacrifices and gallantry of members of our security agencies have resulted in the neutralisation of bandits, insurgents, fundamentalists and foreign intruders while several thousands of others and their family members have surrendered to troops.

“In line with Nigeria’s adherence to international human rights rules, thousands of captured and surrendered insurgents are undergoing rehabilitation preparatory to reintegration into the communities,” he stated.

The chief host and commissioner for Information and Internal Security, Prof Usman Tar, said the workshop is to sensitise the communities in the North East Geo-Political Zone on how they could play complementary roles in fighting insecurity and other vices, and also enable the adoption of community-based security solutions.