The police and army authorities have separately
begun investigations into the twin bombings at the Armed Forces Command and
Staff College, Jaji, Kaduna State, and the attack on the Special Anti-Robbery
Squad headquarters in Abuja.
Saturday PUNCH’s investigations showed
that the army authorities had arrested 10 soldiers, including men and officers
on duty when the incident occurred on Sunday.
It was also learnt that 12 policemen were
currently being detained over the terror attack on the SARS headquarters on
Monday.
It was reliably gathered that both agencies – the
military and the police – suspected that the attacks were carried out with the
assistance of internal collaborators.
There are also indications that the Jaji attacks
might affect several military personnel as the Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen.
Azubuike Ihejirika, had condemned the laxity that led to the incident, thereby
giving a strong indication that “heads may roll.”
This, investigations showed, might lead to the
sack of some soldiers, who would also be court-marshalled.
Ihejirika had said during the opening ceremony of
the 2012 Chief of Army Staff Annual Conference in Asaba, Delta State, that the
blasts, which he described as saddening, could have been prevented.
He had stated, “The event of yesterday is
certainly a very sad one. A board of inquiry is already instituted to unravel
what happened, which we believe could have been prevented.”
It was learnt that the military high command was
embittered by the fact that the second vehicle, which exploded and killed
several people including the two suicide bombers and injured many, was packed
within the premises of the strategic military formation in Jaji.
Saturday PUNCH reliably gathered that
the military authorities were of the view that it would be difficult for such
an operation to have been executed without the collaboration of insiders.
Investigators, it was learnt, were working on a
theory that the second vehicle came into the premises through a route at the
back of the college.
Apart from the Armed Forces Command and Staff College,
Jaji, which is in Igabi Local Government Area of Kaduna State, the formation is
host to four other strategic military institutions.
They are the Warrant Officers Academy, Nigerian
Army Peacekeeping Centre, Nigerian Army School of Infantry, Infantry Corps
Headquarters.
It was gathered that the military high command is
not leaving anything to chance about the ongoing investigations into the Jaji
blasts, which sent jitters across the country.
Although the COAS said on Sunday that the army
had set up a board of inquiry to look into the terror attacks, the Chief of
Defence Staff, Admiral Ola Ibrahim, has also set up another board of inquiry to
ensure that the explosions that rocked the prestigious military formation are
not repeated.
The enquiry into the bomb blasts began on
Wednesday.
Investigations showed that security at the
strategic military formation in Jaji was not very tight as the vast settlement
has no perimeter fence thereby making it possible for the facility to be
accessed from other outlets.
It was further learnt that there are several
civilian settlements within the military formation in Jaji, which complicate
the problem of a watertight security observance in the area.
More so, the manpower for an effective security
maintenance in the facility could not be said to be adequate.
It was learnt that the manpower capability of the
‘4 Demo Battalion’ entrusted with the responsibility of security maintenance in
the area is seriously affected because of its involvement in internal security
operations in other parts of the North.
It was further gathered that many of the officers
of the 4 Demo Battalion are on deployment to flashpoints like Jos and Kafachan
for internal security operations.
When our correspondent contacted the Director,
Army Public Relations, Brig.-Gen. Bola Koleosho, he said he was not aware of
the issue of insiders’ collaboration as the COAS had already said that
two boards of inquiry had been set up to look into the issue.
He said, “As we are talking now, you are the
first person to tell me that some soldiers have been arrested. I have not got
any official position from Jaji. After the initial response, we have allowed
Jaji to carry on with a news briefing.
“What I know is that investigation has started.
What the investigation team is doing, I have not been briefed. There is no way
I can tell the Jaji story like those on the ground. There is no way I can be
commenting on that. I have been here since (this programme) Chief of Army Staff
Conference started.”
However, Ihejirika said at the end of the annual
conference that the military high command would be very decisive in dealing
with security issues even as he charged commanders of the various units to rise
to their responsibilities.
The army chief challenged all commanders to seek
ways of ensuring effective security maintenance in all military formations,
stressing that the absence of a fence shouldn’t be an excuse for any commander
to allow what happened in Jaji to take place.
He said that fencing of the barracks could only
aid security but was not the only means of ensuring tight security maintenance.
He insisted that without adequate security, a
fence could be scaled and even houses broken into to commit acts of
criminality.
“Well, several of our barracks have not been
fenced and in the last two years; we must have fenced maybe two or three, at
most four. But we are talking about almost 80 barracks that are not fenced.
“So, doing that will entail a lot of resources, a
lot of support which the current budget may not contain. But again, whether
barracks are fenced or not, it does not serve as an excuse for any commander to
allow what happened to happen.
“But one thing I would say is that the lack of
fence compounds the challenge. So, every commander must think of ways of
putting in his best to ensure that what happened in Jaji does not happen again.
“What is important is that you put in your best
in terms of planning, in terms of security measures, in terms of intelligence.
Even when barracks are fenced, fences could be climbed, houses could be broken
up, and we are not going to fence cities. So, what it means is that fencing of
barracks would not be the only solution but it would aid security,” Ihejirika
said.
On the attack on SARS, investigations showed that
contrary to the claim by the police, five Boko Haram members escaped during the
incident.
It was also gathered that some of the attackers
wore military and police uniforms.
When contacted and asked about the arrest of
policemen, the Deputy Force Public Relations Officer, Mr. Frank Mba, a chief
superintendent of police, said he was not aware of any arrest.
“I don’t know whether some policemen were
arrested in connection with the attack on SARS,” he said over the telephone on
Thursday.
Punch
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