by Azubuike Azikiwe

Ali Ndume, the Senator representing southern Borno state, says his constituents in Gwoza are under siege.

His statement is coming two weeks after the Boko Haram insurgents took over the town of Gwoza and mounted their flags there.

Ndume was speaking during a visit to shelter camps of people displaced by the violence in Adamawa and Gombe states.

Governor Kashim Shettima of Borno State was with the senator on the visit to the refuge camps, where Ndume stated that six wards of Gwoza local government have been taken over by the terrorists.

He said, “We are under siege in Gwoza. It is sad that we have to wait till now that people are being killed for government to take action. We know that for long, the road to Gwoza from Maiduguri had been a no-go area even for the soldiers.”

“It is a known fact that soldiers of the Nigerian Army have been overstretched in both human and material capacity. The federal government has to rise to the occasion to give these soldiers the needed support to work. Two major federal government bridges leading to Gwoza have been bombed and no one seemed concerned about this.”

The senator lamented the persistent killing of innocent people by the Boko Haram, and also said he is doing his best to ensure that the terror-attacks is ended and the war against the sect is won.

“Our hope is not lost because we kept praying that the insurgency will soon come to an end. This is not the first time in history of the nation that insurgency attack is happening. It had happened before, only that the way Nigeria is handling it is quite different,” he said.

“We are in Madagali, Gulak, Mubi and other villages in the borders of Borno and Adamawa to sympathise, console with our People over the lost of their beloved ones and properties. Today we will be visiting Biu and Gombe to meet with the other displaced persons there,” he added.

Senator Ndume has in the past, been accused of funding the operations of the Islamist sect, and was put on trial last year based on some of those allegations. However proceedings stalled when prosecution failed to provide key witnesses in the case against him. He was arraigned before Justice Kolawole on 12 December last year on a 4-count charge by the Department of State Services (DSS).

Ndume, who pleaded not guilty to the charges, still stands accused of sponsoring the Boko Haram sect, and failing to disclose the cell phone number of Konduga, which was alleged to be in his possession. Ali Sanda Umar Konduga (alias Usman AI- Zawahiri), is a terrorist spokesman of the Boko Haram sect.

He would later swear before a Federal High Court in Abuja that the Vice President, Namadi Sambo, was fully aware of his relationship with the sect.

Kolapo Olapoju