Fleet-footed Amadou Ali escapes Boko Haram attack

  Wife, cook, Kolofata mayor & five family members kidnapped

 

By Sylvanus Ezieh Acha’ana in Yaounde with field reports from Hamadina Hamza in Maroua

Amadou Ali

The vice prime minister, minister delegate at the presidency in charge of relations with the assemblies, Amadou Ali narrowly escaped falling into the hands of the dreaded Nigerian Islamic sect, Boko Haram; thanks to elements of the elite corps, the Rapid Intervention Unit, BIR who aided him to flee at lightening speed.

The incident which took place on Sunday morning in his Kolofata village of origin in the  Mayo Sava division, Far North region however saw the kidnapping of his wife, cook, the town’s mayor and five of the mayor’s family members. It is reported that several people were killed when the over 200 Boko Haram members invaded the locality.  

While Mayor Seini Boukar Lamine who doubles as the lamido of Kolofata and others were kidnapped, Amadou Ali, who was breaking his fast for the Islamic holy month of Ramadan at the time of the attack, managed to escape to a neighbouring town.

The minister of communication, Issa Tchiroma Bakary, in a press statement Sunday evening confirmed the incident. Tchiroma said details of the attack were still sketchy, but mooted that the militants numbered over 200. He told the press conference that the Cameroonian army had taken the town of Kolofata back under control after repulsing the militants, who he said had used "brutal and unqualified violence."

Unofficial reports say the Cameroonian elite corps popularly known as BIR also lost two soldiers in the deadly confrontation. It is not yet clear if Boko Haram lost any of its militants during the fire exchanges.

Boko Haram, an Islamist group which made international headlines with the abduction of 200 Nigerian schoolgirls in April has intensified its violence on Cameroon of recent. At least three other Cameroonian soldiers and three police officers have been killed by the group between July 10 and July 28. Their activities have never gone beyond the Far North region, where their base is reportedly presently located.

Some 22 suspected Boko Haram militants who had been held in Cameroon's northern hub of Maroua since March were last Friday issued prison sentences ranging from 10 to 20 years. It is not yet clear if the attacks were related to the sentencing of the militants.
The attack comes at the time Biya has created an Operational Command Unit in the region. Shortly before the creation of the Command Unit, battalions of soldiers had been ferried to the Far North to stem the rising spate of the Group’s activities. Cameroon has deployed more than 1,000 soldiers along its border to help combat the Nigerian armed group.

But interestingly, it would seem as if the Group is reinforcing proportionally to government’s fortification.

Sunday’s developments have cast doubts on recent media reports that Ali could be sponsoring Boko Haram against the regime. L’Oeil du Sahel, a biweekly newspaper specialised in exclusive reports on the Grand North had few weeks ago alleged that Ali was one of the brains behind Boko Haram in Cameroon.

But with the abduction of his wife and the killing of his brother by the same group he was alleged to be funding, Ali may be vindicated of the allegations.