by ‘Jola Sotubo

The death of the Emir of Gwoza in Borno has caused widespread panic and residents of the area have blamed security operatives for not acting on reports they were given prior to the incident.

Alhaji Idrissa Timta was assassinated on May 30 by suspected Boko Haram insurgents in the Biu area of Borno while he was on his way to the funeral of the Emir of Gombe.

Members of the community are said to have noticed some suspicious looking youths loitering in the area and they allegedly notified the security officials 3 days before the attack.

The Tribune reports:

According to them, three days before the attack, they had noticed that a lorry carrying youths aged between 20 and 25 years was seen around their vicinity, close to a forest. The lorry had broken down and efforts to fix it by the youths had attracted onlookers.

But what was unusual was that before long, residents who saw the youths observed that they all left the lorry and entered into the forest after which their whereabouts was not known. After a while, Sunday Tribune gathered, the lorry could not be found. This raised suspicion among the locals who went straight to security operatives to report the suspicious movement of the youth.

Sunday Tribune gathered that after reporting the scene to the security operatives, locals were uncertain of what was done by the operatives in respect of the situation.

It will be recalled that the death of the emir on Friday by the gunmen sparked off security unrest in the area as many of the residents decided to flee the area but for the quick intervention of the military who helped to calm the situation.