Corp Member May Be Among Dead Terror Suspects

Nigeria: Corp Member May Be Among Dead Terror Suspects

Abdullahi Tasiu Abubakar
28 August 2011


A member of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) may be among the terror suspects killed by the army in Adamawa State during Thursday's deadly attack on the central town of Gombi, sources told Sunday Trust yesterday.
A gang of about 30 gunmen raided Gombi town in broad daylight on Thursday, attacking police stations and banks and killing both security personnel and civilians.
About 18 persons, including at least six policemen and three suspected gunmen, were killed during the incident, which the Chief of Army Staff, Lt Gen O. A. Ihejirika, described as a terrorist attack.
Sources told Sunday Trust in Yola that one of the suspected gunmen killed by the army during the encounter was a serving member of the NYSC who was posted to Gombi to teach at a day secondary school.
Sources claimed that he was seen among the gunmen while they were operating in the centre of the town before an army reinforcement sent from Yola gunned him down.
Sources in Gombi claimed that an NYSC identity card was found in his pocket and that he had even participated in the weekly Community Development (CD) assignment earlier in the morning before the afternoon deadly attack.
Sources at the NYSC office in Yola said officials were making efforts to liaise with the army to recover his corpse but that the army had asked them to write formally requesting for the body.
No NYSC official was willing to speak about the matter on record because on were still uncertainties surrounding the issue.
One source told Sunday Trust that when the chief of army staff came to Yola on Friday, some NYSC officials tried to meet him along with the Brigade Commander in Yola to seek the release of the body; but that they were told to make a formal request in writing.
The army spokesman in Yola, Lt. Olukoya Victor, said he could neither confirm nor deny the story because he had not yet been briefed on the identities of the dead suspects or on a request for the release of any of the bodies.
"Honestly, I am yet to be notified of the full identities of the killed suspects. I know that full identification had been ordered, but I haven't been briefed yet," he told Sunday Trust yesterday.
The army had killed two of the suspects while the police had killed one--all of whose bodies were displayed to journalists on Friday.
State police commissioner Adenlere Shinaba, had then told a news conference that police had recovered only two mobile phones, one Motorola walkie-talkie, one camcorder and N5,000 from the dead suspect.
Police spokesperson, Altine Daniel told Sunday Trust yesterday that the suspect killed by the police was not a corps member. She said considering both his features and looks, he could not be a serving corps member.
During his visit to Yola at the weekend, the chief of army staff described both the Gombi raid and the bomb attack on the United Nations' offices in Abuja as terrorist acts.
He said the army would play its role actively in bringing to an end such kind of acts in Nigeria.