Barely 24 hours after naming President Muhammad Buhari, Malam Nasir Rufai and other government officials as the next targets, terrorists on Monday struck in Abuja and ambushed the Guards Brigade, inflicting serious injuries on the elite security officers.
A signal on the attack reads that the Law School in Bwari may be targeted for attack.
The primary duty of the Guards Brigade is to provide security for the nation’s Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, especially the Presidential Villa.
Security sources said the troops were ambushed on the Bwari-Kubwa Road while on routine patrol.
According to a source, “Available reports show that the troops were on routine patrol of the Bwari-Kubwa area when they were attacked suddenly.”
The source, however, hinted that the ambush was repelled by troops of the Guards Brigade, who immediately restored sanity to the area.
It was gathered that the wounded soldiers were evacuated to the Military Hospital for medical attention. The signal message on the attack reads: “Troops on routine patrol on Kubwa-Bwari were ambushed by suspected terrorists.
“Three soldiers were injured during the attack. The soldiers have been evacuated for medical attention.
“Details on the extent of their injuries are still under confirmation. The ambush attack happening within the general area of Bwari shows that the terrorists are actually within the location and possibly preparing to carry out their plans to attack the Law School in Bwari as earlier reported.”
When contacted, spokesperson for the Guards Brigade, Captain Godfrey Anebi Abakpa, confirmed the attack, but declined further comments.
Meanwhile, panic enveloped some schools located on the outskirts of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) on Monday following the attack on a community in Kwali, near the Federal Government College (FGC), in Sheda village, on the Abuja-Lokoja highway.
The security breach prompted the Federal Government to order the immediate closure of the FGC Kwali, which it said was also under threat by the bandits.
Students of the college were evacuated by their parents, who trooped to the school on Monday morning. Minister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu, directed the closure of the college in the early hours of Monday, saying the closure became necessary following security breach on Sheda and Lambata villages, suburbs of Kwali Area Council, which also threatened the FGC, Kwali.
The Director, Press and Public Relations of the Federal Ministry of Education, Ben Bem Goong, in statement on Monday in Abuja, quoted the minister as saying that the timely intervention of security agencies saved the situation.
Adamu also directed that arrangements be made for final year students to conclude their NECO examinations.
The minister has also directed principals of unity colleges across the country to liaise with security agencies within their jurisdictions in order to forestall any security breach in schools.
It was gathered that some parents flew in from Lagos and other parts of the country to evacuate their children after receiving calls that the college management directed parents to evacuate their wards.
One of the parents who came from Lagos said: “It was at 4.00 pm on Sunday when one of my daughters called me through her guardians’ phone that the management asked parents to rush down to evacuate their children because of a threat by bandits to attack the college.”
An official of the college, who is a member of the Parent-Teacher Association (PTA), said the management directed parents to immediately evacuate their children because of the bandits’ attack on Sheda village.
The official said: “You know, it is a fence that separates Sheda village from the school, and the attack by bandits on the village amid sporadic gunshots that Saturday caused serious panic to both students and management.”
Meanwhile, the vice chairman, Senate Committee on Basic and Secondary Education, Senator Akon Eyakenyi, has tasked security agencies in the country to up their game in addressing the security challenges, saying parents now fear sending their children to schools because of fear of kidnap.
She spoke on Monday in Abuja, while leading other members of the committee on monitoring of the ongoing 2022 national personnel audit being conducted nationwide by the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC).
Eyakenyi said: “The insecurity in the nation helps every day to get children out of school, particularly in the northern part of Nigeria.
“Children do not want to go to school because when they go, they are kidnapped and parents do not want to send their children back to school again. That helps to in- crease the number of out-of-school children.”
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