Hundreds of people trapped in offices, markets and places other than their homes while the Boko Haram insurgence lasted in Damaturu, the Yobe State capital, were reunited with their families yesterday, some of those affected told Daily Trust.A journalist working with the state radio who preferred to remain anonymous told our correspondent that he and some of his colleagues were trapped in the office since Sunday, without food or water.'We starved for two days; it was a difficult period,' he said, adding that he and the others were escorted to their homes by Red Cross and security officials yesterday.Thousands of people had been displaced and many others could not reach their homes shortly after the crisis erupted around 5pm on Monday and lasted till around 12noon on Tuesday.Zabu Dagona, the secretary of the Red Cross Society in Yobe State said his organisation collaborated with the Joint Task Force (JTF) and rescued people who were trapped on their way home when the fighting began.'We have re-united many people with their families and have rendered support to those in distress, especially in the areas of providing food and drugs,' he said.Damaturu has been under 24-hour curfew since the fighting began and the state commissioner of police, Patrick Egbuniwe, yesterday said the town would remain under curfew because security agencies have launched manhunt of the perpetrators of the attack which sparked violence between Monday and Tuesday.Meanwhile Abul-Qaqa, the spokesman of the Jama'atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda'awati Wal Jihad, also known as Boko Haram told journalists by phone that his group was responsible for the attacks.'Our warriors would continue launching severe attacks in the month of June,' he said.Police commissioner Egbuniwe, who spoke to Daily Trust on phone last night, said security operatives including himself, the Joint Task Force (JTF) commander and the director of the State Security Service (SSS) would have to hold a meeting, review the security situation and thereafter decide the appropriate thing to do in respect of the 24-hour curfew.The commissioner also confirmed that about forty people died in the insurgence. 'Four policemen, two soldiers and 34 insurgents were killed. Four other policemen sustained injury and are responding to treatment at the Specialist Hospital Damaturu,' he said.'We are conducting serious checks in the state capital. We are also carrying out search at the Damaturu market and other red spots to see if some of these insurgents are hiding there. We are also checking if some arms and ammunition as well as looking for Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs),' he said.A source at the Specialists Hospital in Damaturu said so far, over 50 dead bodies have been deposited at the mortuary.Some residents who spoke to our correspondents said they have not seen their loved ones and feared that they might have been killed in the ensuing crisis between members of the Boko Haram and the JTF.'My son, a trader at the Damaturu Market did not return home since Monday and his telephone is not going. So also my neighbour who is a civil servant with the state government,' Mallam Musa Sulaiman, a resident of Pompomari said.Meanwhile, there is public outcry from residents of Damaturu and humanitarian agencies over looming danger as a result of absence of basic necessities of life especially food and water.'Almost all the people have remained indoors for over 30 hours, many of them without food to eat,' a source at the State Emergency Relief Agency (SERA), who does not want his name in print, said.'More worrisome, perhaps is the fact most of the people do not have water because public boreholes which are the main sources of water have not been operating for almost two days,' he said.The state water board relies on about 40 boreholes to generate water for residents in the state capital, but the curfew prevented those responsible for operating the boreholes from going out to do their job.
Click here to read full news..
