The lawmaker
representing Borno South Senatorial District, Ali Ndume, has revealed that the
Boko Haram faction holding Leah Sharibu in captive are pressing for ransom.
Ndume said
this while calling on the Nigerian Army to extend its anti-terrorism operations
to the fringes of the Sambisa Forest and Mandara mountains.
The Senator
commended the military for their response to the recent attacks on Borno State
but noted that the activities of attackers had increased recently.
Ndume, while
speaking with Punch, expressed suspicion that the Boko Haram faction that
abducted the Dapchi girls, must have been responsible for the recent attacks in
the state.
He said,
“The stronger ones who still have the audacity to carry out major attacks are
those from Mohammed Nuru’s Boko Haram faction that is operating from the
fringes, which is the group that we are suspecting got money from the
negotiation for the release of the Dapchi schoolgirls.
“Now they
are psychologically pressing for more money through propaganda by using Leah
Sharibu.
“Yes, this
is true because they must get money to carry out their operations, and the only
source of money is the ransom paid to them. But then, the government is in a
tight situation.”
He added, “I
don’t know exactly what is happening. The truth of the matter is that there is
a resurface or escalation of intermittent attacks by the insurgents, over which
I have raised the alarm and to which I have called the attention of the
authorities.
“But I am
happy with the response of the Nigerian Army particularly after the Chief of
Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai, ordered and relocated the operational
headquarters of the Army to Gozombali in Guzama Local Government Area. That is
very commendable.
“I am hoping
that at the same time they will also increase and intensify the fight against
insurgency in other blackspots in the Sambisa Forest and the Mandara Mountains
in Gworza Local Government Area.”
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