Four of our members are still missing, says UNIMAID ASUU

The University of Maiduguri (UNIMAID) chapter of Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has said five of its members and staff of the varsity were still missing following Tuesday’s Boko Haram attacks in Jilli-Bornoyesu axis, while exploring oil and gas in the Lake Chad Basin of Borno State.

Chairman of the university’s chapter, Dr. Danny Mamman, disclosed this yesterday in Maiduguri while updating the death toll from the attack that claimed the lives of 45 people, including staff and members of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Civilian JTF and local vigilantes.

He stated: “Four of our colleagues are still missing, after losing five in Tuesday’s Boko Haram attacks in Gubio Council of Borno State. Some of the UNIMAID geologists brought to Maiduguri are dead. Some are still missing as I address you on this tragic and sorrowful incident that may deplete the university’s staff strength.”

The insurgents last Tuesday attacked a team of geologists on oil exploration exercise in Lake Chad Basin. The team, according to Mamman, comprises NNPC staff, geologists, members of CJTF and military personnel.

The Nigerian Army, however, in a statement on Wednesday said it had rescued all the victims. Its spokesman, Brig-Gen. Sani Kukasheka Usman, said nine soldiers and one civilian were killed in the attack, adding that troops had recovered all the bodies of the victims in the rescue operation.

But Mamman, who was visibly angry on yesterday, said five staff of the institution were killed in the attack, comprising two geologists, two technologists and a driver.

“We were first elated when we heard that the military rescued the victims, but to our dismay, we discovered that they were all killed.

“Our initial hope to see them alive was dashed. The soldiers brought only dead bodies. Four other staff are still missing and we are seriously concerned about their safety. We do not know their whereabouts,” he lamented.

He listed the names of the victims as Ibrahim Yusuf and Aji Kolo, just as the UNIMAID authorities were yet to issue a statement on the incident.

Meanwhile, Governor Kashim Shettima, while condemning the attack, in a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Communication and Strategy, Isa Gusau, in Maiduguri, said since he first got information concerning the incident on his way to visit President Muhammadu Buhari in London, he had not been his normal self and was yet to recover from the shock of the attack.

“What happened was a tragic setback in the fight against Boko Haram and in Nigeria’s effort to expand its economic fortunes.