Less than 24 hours after President Goodluck Jonathan declared emergency rule in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states to curb insurgency, heavily-armed soldiers were seen today in Adamawa State.
The President, during the Monday broadcast, directed the Chief of Defence Staff, to deploy security agents, seize and demolish any house used for terrorist activities and lock-down any part of the three states with the aim of fishing out terrorists.
Today, residents of Jimeta, Yola and Jambutu woke up to see the security agents patrolling major streets but nobody was harassed or molested.
A government official said Governor Murtala Nyako had been briefed on the deployment and that the Military High Command was already strategising on how to deploy the troops.
Meanwhile, some opinion leaders in the North-East state have differed sharply on the emergency rule.
Political scientist and former governorship aspirant
on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dr Umar Ardo, said although the President has constitutional powers to declare the emergency rule, “the decision was harsh and rash because there are other states with serious security challenges more than Adamawa State and nobody has declared emergency rule there.
“Instead of the whole state, the rule should have been
imposed in the selected local government areas that there seems to be pockets of violence as earlier done in Yobe, Niger, Plateau and Borno states”.
However, a lecturer with the Modibbo Adama University of Technology (MAUTECH), Dr. Amuga Keftin, backed the President on the emergency rule.
He said: “It is in the interest of everybody. The President consulted people before taking the decision. Let’s hope that there is light at the end of the tunnel”.
But, Mr. Phineas Padio said that the emergency rule was not necessary, because, according to him, the security situation in the North-East state is not comparable with what is
seen in Kano, Plateau, Benue, Nasarawa and some South-South states.
