A bomber’s bike left at a scene of bloodshed

The Secretary of the Borno Elders Forum, Alhaji Bulami  Mali Gubio, on Friday enjoined residents to form Mosque guards to address the spate of bombings in mosques across the state.

Gubio spoke while reacting to increasing wave of bombings during congregational prayers in mosques.

“It is sad that the Boko Haram fighters have continued to unleash terror on Muslim worshipers in the state.

“Residents must stand up and protect themselves by forming Mosque Guards in all areas to halt this madness,’’ he said.

Gubio made reference to Islamic history, where the Holy Prophet Muhammad was said to have instructed the formation of Mosque Guards to prevent Muslims from attacks during the early stage of the religion.

“In the early stage of Islam, Mosque Guards were used to protect worshippers from aggression from Idol worshipers. I think we must copy from that by ensuring safety in our mosques,’’ he said.

The secretary described the bombing of mosque as cowardice, and said: “the Boko Haram sect members are cowards.

“Instead of facing the military in the bush, they decided to bomb innocent people praying in mosques.’’

Gubio said the renewed mosque attacks had shown that the insurgents had nothing to do with Islam.

“It is now clear that they are anti-Islam, they are only pretending to be Muslims, when their mission is to give the religion a bad name,’’ he said.

Gubio expressed optimism that the insurgency would end in a matter of time, and urged Nigerians to continue to pray for a quick end to the attack.