Youths burn Borno ANPPchair’s house

By Ndahi Marama
Maiduguri—Youths popularly known as Civilian Joint Task Force, JTF,
who have been assisting security agencies in arresting Boko Haram
suspects in Borno State, yesterday, invaded the residence of All
Nigeria Peoples Party, ANPP, Chairman, Alhaji Mala Othman, at the New
GRA, Maiduguri, the state capital, setting it ablaze.
They claimed to be looking for the Boko Haram insurgents.
This was even as a middle aged woman suspected to be a member of the
Boko Haram had one of her legs shattered while trying to plant an
Improvised Explosive Device, IED, on a Baga Road market square in
Maiduguri.
The woman said to be carrying the improvised bomb to the area where it
would have been planted, but it detonated before she reached her
destination, last Sunday.
The 'Civilian JTF' also arrested two women with AK47 rifles at the
Monday Market yesterday.
It was said that after torching the ANPPChairman's building, the
youths proceeded to the former Governor Ali Modu Sherrif's multi
billion Naira residence in the same GRA with the aim of also setting
it on fire.
It however, took the timely intervention of the security agents
guarding the house to stop the action.
The security operatives were alleged to have shot sporadically into
the air toscare away the youths who scattered without accomplishing
their mission.
However, the party chairman was said to have narrowly escaped being
killed by his attackers as security agents reportedly whisked him away
in a tinted Toyota Camry saloon car before the youths arrived.
Youths on a similar mission, had earlierinvaded Othman's house but
were stopped from carrying out the action by security agents who
informed themthat the chairman was not in town.
The youths whose efforts had earlier been commended by Governor
KashimShettima and other concerned individuals for helping in the
arrests ofseveral Boko Haram sect members in Maiduguri and Damaturu,
the Yobe State capital in the last couple of weeks have vowed that
they would arrest both Othman and former Governor Sheriff and hand
them over to security agencies for appropriate action.
Vanguard reported last week that some of the Volunteer Youths went to
the residence of the ANPP chairman at the new GRA, on a mission to
arrest him or set his house ablaze.
It took the security operatives guarding the residence of the
politician about 20 minutes of beggingthe aggrieved youths to drop the
idea.
A reliable source told Vanguard that the ANPP chairman had reportedly
been on the run since last year over the Boko Haram palaver in the
state.
However, on the woman who tried to plant an explosive, an eye witness
who identified herself as Abubakar Kundiri said: "We were sitting
under this tree with two of my friends when the woman passed by
carrying something in her bag that looked like a tin of cowbell milk.
Immediately when she reached there, (pointing to the area) she bent
over and put the object she was carrying on the ground.
No sooner had she stood up than we heard a loud sound and her leg was
torn into pieces.
"In fact, we were very lucky to be alive as we never knew she was
carrying a device which could have exploded and killed all of us,"
she stated.