Buhari blames clerics for attraction to terrorism

• Urges Muslims worldwide to speak against trend
• 15 die in Borno suicide bombings, says police commissioner

President Muhammadu Buhari has blamed the seeming inability to tame the activities of insurgents to the role of clerics whose insidious preachings continue to attract members into their fold. 

A statement signed yesterday by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, said President Buhari spoke in Jordan at a security meeting hosted by King Abdullah II where he urged Muslim leaders worldwide to speak up against the hateful violence committed by deranged people in the name of Islam.

Buhari, who reiterated the commitment of Nigeria to playing a leading role in bringing together countries of the West African sub-region in a collective security arrangement, said that with what the nation had gone through, it was ready to share the experiences with a view to fashioning out comprehensive action plans in tackling the scourge of violent extremism in the region.

He said that the joint regional collaboration under the auspices of the multinational joint task force, combined with the efforts of the Nigerian Armed Forces, had gone a long way to decimate the activities of extremists in the West African sub-region.

Participants at the end of the meeting resolved to come up with concrete action plans that would change the narrative of violent extremism in the West African sub-region at a follow-up meeting to be hosted by Nigeria.

Meanwhile, the Borno State Police Commissioner, Damian Chukwu, has confirmed the killing of 13 people and several others wounded after two suspected female bombers detonated their strapped Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) at the weekend at Biu Central Market in the state.

The two suicide bombers were also killed in the attack.Chukwu, in a statement, said: “Two female suicide bombers infiltrated and gained entry into Biu town. One of the bombers detonated an IED (improvised explosive device) strapped to her body within Biu’s main market, while the other one detonated outside the market square.”

But a member of the Civilian Joint Task Force (JTF), Madu Jasku, told The Guardian on phone yesterday that the death toll might rise to 21, as some of the injured ones were placed on danger list while being evacuated to the hospital for treatment.

However, Arewa leaders, under the aegis of Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), have condemned the attack.They described the recent act by the remnants of Boko Haram sect using innocent children to perpetrate bombings in the state “as wicked and barbaric.”