Apparently moved by the statement credited to the leadership of the Boko Haram sect in turning down the proposed Federal Government amnesty for its members, the Kano militaryled Joint Task Force (JTF) has begun combing the nook and cranny of the state, particularly the capital city in search of militants.
Sunday Mirror investigations at the weekend revealed constant raids on suspected flashpoints and hideouts in search of terrorists.
Most of the raids, from our findings, had ended in tragedies. Some of the suspected flashpoints which had been under severe military “bombardment” were identified as Anguwan Uku, Sheka in Sharada area, Hotoro, Eastern Bye-pass, as well as Dakata, where sect militants had laid siege lately. We gathered that for the fourth day running, JTF and the police had intensified their operations to free Kano from the grip if Islamic extremists.
For instance, while the police surveillance patrol is more prominent in Bompai, Dakata, Zango and Sabon Gari, Kano’s nonindigenous community, the JTF has remained a common sight in Sharada, Hotoro, Eastern Bye-pass and Yankaba, where they have intensified their house-tohouse search for terrorists and weapons of mass destruction.
Kano State Commissioner of Police, Musa Daura, said the command was leaving nothing to chance in its campaign against criminal activities, while JTF spokesman, Captain Ikedichi Iweha, told our correspondent that the house-to-house search by JTF operatives was a routine operation, designed to restore peace in the state.
It would be recalled that last Friday’s operation in the city by JTF left seven persons, a soldier and six suspected terrorists dead. The soldier, whose identity is being withheld by the JTF, was attached to the 3 Brigade Kano, according to military sources.
Sunday Mirror gathered that the bloody gun duel followed an early hour raid by JTF on Sheka in Kano city, notorious for Boko Haram activities and one of the many hideouts of gunmen operating in the state.
Spokesman of the JTF, Ikedichi Iweha, an army captain, said the operations led to the death of seven persons, adding that at the end of the raid, assorted dangerous weapons, including explosives were recovered in a building that provided cover for the terrorists.
“The building was demolished after five women believed to be wives of some of the militants and three of their children were evacuated to safety by JTF,” Iweha said.
A similar raid on Easter Sunday claimed the life of a JTF operative and 14 suspected Boko Haram gunmen somewhere around Anguwa Uku quarters.
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