IN two separate strikes, members of the dreaded Boko Haram sect have continued their onslaught against security operatives, killing six policemen in Niger and Kano states.
The Kano attacks by sect members allegedly dressed in riot police uniform occurred near the Kano family house of the acting Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mohammed Abubakar.
Four policemen were feared killed in the attack. Two policemen were on Wednesday night killed at the City Gate in Minna, the Niger Statecapital.
The Kano victims were shot at the eatery where they went to take their breakfast by four gunmen in police uniform.
According to an eyewitness account, the gunmen allegedly stormed the area in a commando style, shot at the riot policemen before fleeing the scene.
“People ran helter-skelter as sounds of gunshot rent the air. The hapless policemen were walking on the street; and all of a sudden, some mean-looking young men opened fire on them and killed them instantly.
Their bodies were quickly removed by their colleagues; and security men immediately cordoned off the area,” a resident of the area said.
The incident, which occurred along Lawan Danbazau link, Gwandu Albasu Quarters, near the defunct Bank of the North building at about 8:30am, has further heightened fear in the ancient city.
Residents were seen in small groups discussing the development in hush tones.
“What is Kano turning into? We are indeed in a war situation. When will this attacks stop? This is gradually grinding economic activities in Kano.
Only God will save us,” a worried businessman, who pleaded for anonymity, lamented.
The gunmen allegedly disarmed their victims.
Police spokesman Musa Magaji Majia, an Assistant Superintendents of Police (ASP), confirmed the incident. But said only two policemen died.
Said Majia: “At about 8:30am this (yesterday) morning, along BUK Road, our men on foot patrol were attacked by four gunmen on motorbikes. Two of our men died while two were injured.
“Already, 15 suspects have been arrested in connection with the crime. At the moment, the area has been cordoned off and investigation is still on-going. I urge good citizens to move about their businesses without panic.”
The Niger attacks came barely a week after the fundamentalist sect killed three officers including an inspector and a sergeant in the capital city and a corporal at Maje, in Suleja Local Government Area.
Wednesday’s attack occurred at Tunga area of Minna.
The victims were attacked while on duty at a police check point.
Police spokesman Ricahrd Oguche confirmed the attack but declined further details.
“Please, I will call you back. I am going to see my commissioner. Two of our men have just been killed at Atunga. I will call back to give details,” Oguche said.
The Federal Road Safety Corps has denied that two FRSC marshals were murdered yesterday in Kano by suspected Boko Haram attackers.
The Corps, in a statement by Bisi Kazeem, the Deputy Corps Public Education Officer, said no FRSC man was killed in the reported incident.
It added that the FRSC was only involved in the post-incident rescue operations in the normal line of duty.
A primary school has been attacked in Maiduguri.
Classrooms were set on fire overnight - the second non-denominational school to be targeted this week.
The burning bears the hallmarks of an attack by Boko Haram group, which has recently threatened to attack non-Islamic schools.
Boko Haram, whose name means “Western education is forbidden”, wants to establish Islamic law in Nigeria.
An education officer with Borno state said two classrooms were completely burnt down overnight and other buildings at the government-run school were still alight on Thursday morning.
He told the BBC Hausa Service that gunmen held the school’s security guard hostage as four men entered the premises to start the fire.
Boko Haram wants Nigerian children to attend Islamic schools.
The gunmen then prevented residents living nearby in the suburb of Budum from putting out the blaze.
Earlier in the week, another government school, in Kolumgna suburb, was targeted and four classrooms were destroyed.
The BBC’s Bilkisu Babangida, formerly based in Maiduguri, said the strongholds of Boko Haram in the mainly Muslim city.
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