Insurgents kill two policemen, four others in Borno communities

Gunmen, suspected to be members of Boko Haram Islamic sect, yesterday, attacked Gwoza and Gamboru Ngala communities in Borno State,  killing two policemen and four members of the communities while seven insurgents also died in the encounters.

In the attack launched at the Divisional Police Headquarters, Gwoza at about 8 am yesterday, two policemen were killed while seven insurgents equally lost their lives in the encounter.

A member of the Emirate Council who accompanied the Emir of Gwoza , Alhaji Idrisa Timta, who fled the council to the Government House, Maiduguri, to intimate Governor Kashim Shettima of the incident, told journalists that “At about 8 am today (yesterday), members of the Boko Haram sect attacked the Gwoza Divisional Police Headquarters killing two policemen. Seven insurgents also lost their lives in an exchange of gunfire”.

He however added that “everything has been brought under control, as military troops have been deployed in the area.”

At Gamboru Ngala incident, at least four civilians were killed while eight others were seriously injured when some suspected members of Boko Haram sect invaded the community in the early hours of Wednesday.

Gamboru Ngala is a border town with Cameroun Republic, about 135 kilometres away from Maiduguri, the state capital, which had witnessed series of bombings and killings in recent past.

Four residents killed

It was gathered that the gunmen, numbering about 50, came on motorcycles armed with sophisticated weapons and attacked Flatari ward of the council at about 2am on Wednesday. The sect members ordered residents to come out from their houses pretending to be members of the youth vigilante before they opened fire on them killing four residents and injuring eight others.

A source said, the gunmen also set ablaze some houses in Flatari and fled.

He explained that the gunmen were on revenge mission following the recent arrest of one of their members last week by youth vigilantes (civilian JTF) whom they later handed over to the military Joint Task Force before he was killed.

According to the source, the military used to patrol the area but with the formation of youth vigilante, the JTF were no longer patrolling the area, as they had confidence in the vigilante in protecting their area.

A resident who on condition of anonymityd appealed to the JTF to come to their aid and resume patrol of the area as the unarmed vigilante youths could not protect the area alone considering the sophisticated weapons used by the terrorists.

Sect members plan to avenge Shekau’s death

Meanwhile, there were indications in Abuja, yesterday, that following the death of Boko Haram leader, Imam Abubakar Shekau, as a result of gunshot wounds he sustained in an encounter with Special Forces when they carried out ground and air assault at the vast Sambisa Forest in Borno State, remnants of Boko Haram sect members were planning a revenge attack.

The sect members are said to have vowed that the killing of their leader and others in the decision making council will be avenged with a deadly attack that will be commensurate with the killing of their leaders including Momodu Bama, the 2nd in command to Shekau.


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