Is Boko Haram out of suicide bombers as it now deploys cows for bombings?

*Sect raids banks, police station

We must give it to them. The Boko Haram sect is a resourceful, creative and innovative one. It’s members are always thinking, always plotting, always on their toes. Is it any wonder they appear to be succeeding? Now they want to start using cows for bombings. What ingenuity! What horror to unfold!

In this new strategy, Boko Haram will strap bombs to cows and herded the cows to human settlements before detonating the explosives.

However, the Director General of National Orientation Agency (NOA), Mr. Mike Omeri, who doubles as the Coordinator of the National Information Centre (NIC),who disclosed this at a press briefing in Abuja, did not give details on where the insurgents had employed this terror tactic.

Omeri also spoke on Monday’s attack on Damaturu by the insurgents, who launched another attack on Ashaka and Bajoga, in Gombe yesterday, raiding banks and bombing government buildings, including a police station. He said normalcy has since returned to Damaturu, the Yobe State capital, and Konduga in Borno State, which the insurgents attacked on Monday.

He added: “The situation in Yobe and Maiduguri is calm. The situation has returned to normal. “Like Maiduguri, the insurgents have resorted to other means of invading society, and that is why they now use bombs; they strap bombs around human beings.

“Sometimes, they strap bombs around cows, and push them to settlements. “That is why we have been calling for more vigilance and total collaboration and cooperation among citizens. “We urge all citizens to be patient, when you are subjected to searches and checks; it is something that we have to live with. It happens all over the world, especially when we are faced with what we have.”

Boko Haram militants yesterday also stormed Ashaka and Bajoga in Gombe State, raiding banks and burning government buildings as well as political party offices. In Bajoga, the terrorists raided banks and set fire to a police station, government buildings and political party offices. In Ashaka, pick-up trucks and medical supplies were stolen. Lafarge, a French-owned cement company, is located in Ashaka.

A pastor said there was bombardment from the terrorists until the military and other security agents repelled the attack. A resident said the gunmen, who dressed in military uniforms, came into Ashaka in a convoy of 20 vehicles at 7a.m.

“The gunmen kept shouting ‘Allahu Akbar’ (God is great) and firing guns haphazardly. They went into the cement factory and took away some vehicles,” Samaila Adnan, an Ashaka resident, said. “They didn’t touch anyone.” A staff member at the cement company, who asked not to be identified, confirmed Adnan’s account and said the factory was evacuated before the attack. “Our fear was confirmed. They went into the factory and headed to the administrative building where company vehicles were parked. “They took away several Hilux (four-wheel drive) vans. They also went to the factory clinic and took away an ambulance along with drugs. They didn’t harm anybody.”