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Ambazonian Attack: Untold Story of How Immigration Officers Rescued Women, Children in Manga


Officers of the Nigeria Immigration Service in Manga Community in Takum Local Governmnet Area risked their lives to rescue women and children to safety while the community was attacked by  Ambazonian fighters.

Residents of Manga community said the Ambazonian fighters who attacked them on Nigeria soil came through boats and navigated the mountains into their community but were repelled by some Immigration officers stationed in the community.

A palace guard to the late traditional ruler said the soldiers invaded the community at 7:00a.m on the day of the attack.

 "Thank God for the immigration officers who were around at the time as first responders, the number of those killed would have been higher."

 He added, "Here in Manga, six people were killed including our village head, but the two villages that they attacked before coming in on the Cameroon side, they killed three people each over there, bringing to number to 12.

"The immigration officers who have a post here engaged the attackers while another officer of theirs used their boat to evacuate children and women into other villages."

"We really do not know their number but they shot at everything at sight. The path they followed into the village was close to the palace of our village head and that was why they were able to kill him easily. A lot of our people ran into the river to escape while others followed the bush and mountains to flee with assistance of the Immigration officers."

The locals added that the invaders first attacked two villages on fringes of the Cameroon-Nigerian border before crossing over to Manga village in Nigeria.

The residents said  the way and manner in which the attackers invaded the community shows they were all Amazonia soldiers from neighbouring Cameroun.

Eyewitnesses said that the aggressors, who came in a boat, attacked two communities in Cameroun before invading Manga Community in Taraba State.

Keziah Danlami Manga said before the unfortunate incident they have been cohabitating with their Cameroonian neighbors peacefully until that fateful day that the attackers stormed the area with sporadic gunshots.

 

They also confirmed that before the attack, the Cameroonian Separatist group had earlier attacked some communities in Cameroon where some people ran to Manga for refuge.

 He wondered how their decision to provide shelter for those who fled Cameroun due to the ongoing leadership tussle between the Northern and Southern parts of the country constituted an offence.

 

The Chief of Shibong Chiefdom in Takum Local Government Area Alexander Garkwe Yamusa appealed for telecommunications facilities as the area is cut off from the rest of the state.

He lamented that the recent attack had made residents of the community very vulnerable.

 

On his part, the Chairman of Takum Local Government, Hon Shibam Tikari, warned that Government cannot condone such territorial invasion again.

 

He called on the Cameroonian authorities to call their people to order and warned their separatist group against any threat to territorial peace will be responded with maximum force.

 

He appealed for military deployment to the border communities and posting of marine Police to the area.

 

Governor Darius Dickson Ishaku has assured the people of Manga Community in Takum Local Government Area of his commitment to ensure their safety and well-being.

 

The governor who was represented by the state Commissioner of Information and reorientation Danjuma Anyeze Adamu gave the assurance when he visited Manga Community in Takum Local Government Area of the state amidst the commander of the six Brigade of the Nigeria Army and Immigration officers to assess the alleged invasion of the boarder by the Cameronian separatist group Ambazonian. 

 

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