The ongoing battle between men of the Nigerian military and members of the dreaded Boko Haram sects in Mubi town, Adamawa State has continued to cause more trouble as no fewer than 350 children are reportedly missing.
Displaced residents from Mubi who are taking refuge in Yola, the state capital, lamented that as at the time terrorists overran the town last Wednesday; their children were still in school and got unaccounted for in the melee which followed the fall of the town into the hands of the insurgents. Most parents who were scared stiff by the terror unleashed on the town scampered in different directions to avoid being caught in the crossfire.
One of the displaced parents from Mubi, Solomon Kiebalri cried that eight of his children were missing as they fled from the bullets of the terror gang.
He told Thisday thus: “My wife called to inform me when the insurgents struck Mubi that she and the children were trapped by the insurgents who were firing gun shots sporadically and immediately, the line went off.
“Since then, I could neither get through to her nor any of the children. My life has become so miserable that I could not even eat. Each time I tried to put anything into my mouth, the thought of my little kids starving in the bush always made me cringe with exasperation.”
For Musa Binta, said she could not find three of her children who got missing in the fracas that broke out when the insurgents struck the town.
Another displaced parent, Mallam Habibu, lamented that his three wives and 15 children were missing, adding that his life has been completely shattered by the crisis.
Noting that he even dispatched a search team to bushes near Mubi but they had returned without any news of his family’s whereabouts, he stated, “I even tried my contacts in Cameroun, still no success has been recorded. Right now, I don’t know whether they are alive or dead.”
Ramotu Mairo, could be seen sorrowfully holding the picture of her seven-year-old child whom she said was also missing after the insurgents overran the town. She said the search for her missing child has failed to yield any fruit.
According to her, “since morning I have been going from one street to another asking people whether they have seen Farouk, my last child.
“I have been making calls since the day he got missing but up till now I have not heard any positive response.”
In the case of Sulaiman Baba, who kept roaming the streets of Yola, he was from Uba town and had to run for dear life when the insurgents struck his home, killed his father, two brothers and abducted his mother alongside her sister.
“When the insurgents stormed our compound, they slaughtered my father, killed my two brothers, and kidnapped my mother and her sister.
“I escaped by scaling the fence and running into the bush. I have since then been trekking until I eventually got here,” Baba narrated.
Conversely, investigations revealed that many children were equally stranded in Yola without being able to locate their parents.
The battle to control Mubi, which began last Wednesday, continued on Sunday as the military fighter jets have been bombarding the ancient town with the aim of recapturing it from the insurgents who had taken over the town with their flag hoisted in strategic positions.
Security sources are however optimistic that given the current zeal demonstrated by the Nigerian soldiers and its jet fighters, it is only a matter of time before the military recovers the city from the insurgents.
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