Residents panic as army locks down Maiduguri

Residents of Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, yesterday, woke up to yet another day of fear and trekking as soldiers barricaded major routes in the city in honour of top army generals, who were visiting for this year’s Army Day celebration.

The Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Kenneth Minimah, had on Sunday led Nigeria’s topmost generals to Maiduguri where this year’s celebration is holding.

While military helicopters hover at lower altitude over the city of Maiduguri in an unusual kind of surveillance, soldiers on ground were busy asking commuters to either turn back home or seek other routes to their destinations on foot.

The Office of the Army Public Relations  at the 7 Division Nigeria Army had said the annual Army Day Celebration, usually held in Abuja, was moved to Maiduguri to boost the morale of troops fighting the Boko Haram insurgency in North East Nigeria.

The spokesman of the 7 Division, Colonel Tukur Gusau, said in a statement that this year’s celebration is focusing on the theme, ‘Equipping the Nigerian Army to Enhance Operational Efficiency in Combating Threats to National Security’.

General Minimah and other top generals who arrived Maiduguri Sunday participated in the concluding events of the celebration, which begun Friday July 3 with Friday prayers in mosques.

The event continued on Sunday with church service at Our Lady Queen of Nigeria Church all in Maimalari Cantonment, Maiduguri.

As part of the celebration, the medical team of the 7 Division Hospital conducted a two-day medical outreach on July 4 and 5 at the Shehu’s palace and IDP camp located at the Arabic Teachers College, Maiduguri.

Minimah yesterday led other senior military officers on courtesy visits to Borno governor, Kashim Shettima and the Shehu of Borno, HRH Dr ABubakar Ibn Umar Garbai Elkanemi.

The event later climaxed with the Chief of Army Staff addressing and decorating troops with medals at 212 Battalion Parade Ground of the Maimalari Cantonment, Maiduguri.