Northern senators seek military offensive against insurgents in Adamawa

The Northern Senators Forum has demanded an immediate military offensive to dislodge insurgents from the Kopre-Sambisa corridor in Adamawa State following attacks on two military battalions that left soldiers, a forest guard and civilians dead.

The senators also called on the Federal Government and Defence Headquarters to reinforce troops in the area to prevent further attacks and displacement of residents.

The Chairman of the forum, Senator Abdulaziz Yar’Adua (Katsina Central), made the demand in a statement he personally signed on Sunday.

According to the statement, the attacks on the 226 Battalion in Garkida and the 232 Battalion in Garaha occurred on Wednesday and Thursday.

Yar’Adua said the attacks affected several communities across Hong and Gombi Local Government Areas, adding that they constituted an assault not only on Adamawa and the North, but on Nigeria as a whole.

He commiserated with the families of those killed and affected by the attacks.

The affected communities include Garaha, Dabna, Bangna, Mubang, Zah, Bitirhuya, Kwapre, Mayo Ladde, Gaya-Dlang, Garkida, Boima and Guyaku.

The senators also called on the National Emergency Management Agency and the North East Development Commission to provide relief materials to residents displaced by the attacks.

The lawmakers expressed deep pain over reports of killings, abductions of women and children, burning of places of worship, destruction of property and the displacement of hundreds of families forced to flee their ancestral homes on the eve of the nation’s 66th Independence anniversary.

According to them, the attacks targeting the 226 Battalion in Garkida and the 232 Battalion in Garaha were not only an assault on Adamawa State, but also on the North and the Nigerian nation as a whole.

The forum called on the Federal Government and Defence Headquarters to urgently reinforce security presence in the Kopre-Sambisa corridor and adopt a unified, proactive strategy to flush out the criminal enclaves.

The Northern Senators Forum expressed solidarity with the people of Adamawa State, saying that through collective efforts, they would not be abandoned to terrorists.