Nigerian President declares state of emergency in some Northern states

President Goodluck Jonathan

Nigerian President declares state of emergency
Godwin Ukaa, Lawan Hamidu, Gloria Essien and Ugo Okoro, Abuja

Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan has declared a state of emergency in parts of some Northern States of the country as a result of the continued bombings by an Islamist group called boko haram in the country.

The President in a Nationwide Broadcast declared the affected Local Government Areas in the States in Borno, Yobe in North east, Plateau and Niger in North Central.

He said that the decision became necessary to forestall the state of killings going on in the country by the group that has now extended its dastardly act to places of worship.

He said in his broadcast that "While the search for lasting solutions is ongoing, it has become imperative to take some decisive measures necessary to restore normalcy in the country especially within the affected communities.

Consequently, I have in the exercise of the powers conferred on me by the provisions of section 305(1) of the Constitution, declared a state of emergency in the following parts of the federation, namely:

(1) Borno State
a) Maidugiri Metropolitan LGA
b) Gamboru Ngala LGA
c) Banki Bama LGA
d) Biu LGA
e) Jere LGA

(2) Yobe State
a) Damaturu LGA
b) Geidam LGA
c) Potiskum LGA
d) Buniyadi-Gujba LGA
e) Gasua-Bade LGA

(3) Plateau State
a) Jos North LGA
b) Jos South LGA
c) Barkin-Ladi LGA
d) Riyom LGA

(4) Niger State
a) Suleja LGA"

"The details of this proclamation will be transmitted to the National Assembly as soon as they reconvene from their current recess, for their necessary action.", he added

Border Closure

He also urged the political leadership in the affected states and Local Government Areas to give maximum cooperation to the law enforcement agencies deployed to their respective communities to ensure that the situation is brought under control within the shortest possible time.

President Jonathan also directed the closure of international borders that are adjoined to the affected communities in the country, which are contiguous to the affected Local Government Areas so as to control incidences of cross boarder terrorist activities.

While assuring the country’s neighbours, especially within the ECOWAS sub-region, of Nigeria’s commitment to its international obligations President Jonathan said temporary closure of our borders in the affected areas is only an interim measure designed to address the current security challenges and will be reviewed as soon as normalcy is restored.

He mandated the Chief of Defence Staff, Air-Marshall Oluseyi Petirin in collaboration with the Inspector–General of Police, Hafiz Ringim to put appropriate measures to protect lives and property in the affected areas in the country.

He ended his broadcast with a plea "Terrorism is a war against all of us. I call on all Nigerians to join hands with government to fight these terrorists. "

Madalla Blast

President Jonathan, just a few hours to his broadcast paid a condolence visit to the Christmas Day Bomb blast site at the St Theresa's Catholic Church, Madalla, Niger state.

The president sympathized with the church, the government and people of Niger state on the lost of lives and property but assured Nigerians that he would do everything to protect lives and properties of the citizens.

He said ``Suleja is a particular local government that is becoming very notorious in terms of terrorism. All the terrorist attacks in Niger State had taken place in Suleja. Luckily the chairman of council is here.”

He gave a warning, ``I am going to turn this local government upside down. If there are institutions here that are harbouring criminality we are going to deal with it decisively.”

``Niger State is a very big state and any terrorist attack is in Suleja, so my belief is that there are some institutions or individuals in Suleja that are harbouring terrorists and we’ll deal with it decisively, he added .

``And any part of this country; any individual or group of individuals, whether traditional institutions or religious institutions associated with terrorists will be dealt with decisively. There will be no sacred cows.’’, he warned.

The Niger state governor, Mr. Muazu Babangida Aliyu, said that church could forgive terrorists, but the government would not forgive them until they get the terrorists and punished them properly.

The Parish Priest of Rev. Fr. Achi Isaac, said the church has forgiven the perpetrators of the terrorist act appealed to president Jonathan to work towards putting a stop to further occurrences.

Police efforts

Towing this line , the Inspector General of Police, Hafiz Ringim says government would not relent until the security situation in some parts of the country becomes as perfect as it ought to be.

He made the call while addressing State House Correspondents shortly after the meeting of security chiefs with President Jonathan in Abuja.

Ringim urged Nigerians to support and cooperate with security agencies to solve the security challenges facing the country.

This is the second time in twenty four hours that the President is meeting with security chiefs. The service chiefs were however, not in attendance.

The meetings are to address the threat of the Boko Haram Islamist movement.

The Inspector General of Police also advised people to report any strange person, movement or action in their surroundings to the security agents to contain the situation.

The meeting was also part of the continuous evaluation of the security situation in the country.

In attendance were Vice President, Namadi Sambo, the National Security Adviser, Gen. Andrew Azazi, Director General State Security Service (SSS), Ita Ekpenyong, and Director-General, Nigeria Intelligence Agency (NIA), Olaniyi Oladeji.

Ugo