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President Goodluck Jonathan had in an emailed statement urged protesters to blame terrorists over the abduction of the 200 girls so as to ensure their “zeal is matched with a realistic understanding of the situation.
President Goodluck Jonathan and the ‘ghosts’ Boko Haram
Jonathan writes:”When a bomb goes off in Baghdad, the people of Iraq do not blame the government, they blame the terrorists,” he said. “When terrorists see Nigerians turn on each other in blame, it gives them a huge morale boost … the terrorists are the real enemy.”
The ruling People’s Democratic Party, PDP, and main opposition All Progressives Congress, APC, which rules Borno state, have blamed each other for the hostage crisis.
Jonathan and the military have been criticized in Nigeria for the slowness of their reaction to the mass abduction, and last week Nigeria accepted help from the United States, Britain, France and China to find the girls.
Some of the 80 U.S. troops deployed for a mission aiming to rescue the school girls have already arrived in Chad, Pentagon spokesman Army Colonel Steve Warren said on Thursday.
The U.S. military has also been flying unmanned surveillance aircraft over remote areas of northeast Nigeria for two weeks, and last weekend the Pentagon struck an agreement to enable it to share intelligence directly with the Nigerian government.
Yet a rescue mission would be fraught with danger. Little has been said in public about the girls’ possible whereabouts or whether any negotiations are going on behind the scenes to free them.
Militants killed 17 people in the northeastern village of Alagarno on Tuesday and razed several houses to the ground.
Hours earlier, a double bomb blast in the central Nigerian city of Jos killed 118 people, according to the emergency services, while men on motorbikes killed nine people in a raid on the nearby village of Shawa on Monday.
While authorities suspect Boko Haram of carrying out all these attacks, there have been no claims of responsibility.
The well armed militant group has no direct line of communication with the Western press and its purported leader, Abubakar Shekau, claims only occasional attacks through videos circulated to local journalists.
Military discovers rocket launcher production facility in Kano
Meanwhile, The Defence Headquarters (DHQ), on Friday in Abuja, said rocket launcher production facility was uncovered at Dorayi District in Kumbotso Local Government Area of Kano.
This information is contained in a statement issued and signed by Maj.-Gen. Chris Olukolade, Director of Defence Information.
The statement said that cordon and search exercise led to the discovery of the facility.
It explained that the discovery followed the arrest of a prominent member of the terrorist group.
“Locally made anti-aircraft gun and mortar accessories and rocket propelled grenade tubes and launcher along with accessories were recovered.
“Also seized were three AK47 rifles and hundreds of rounds of assorted ammunitions as well as drilling machines and other fabricating equipment.
The statement reminded the public to report suspicious persons to security agencies in their localities to prevent unwholesome act by terrorists
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