The newly posted comptroller of Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) in charge of Borno and Yobe states, Alhaji Adamu Ahmadu, was, on Tuesday night, shot dead in his house in Potiskum, Yobe State, by unidentified gunmen suspected to be members of the Boko Haram sect.
Alhaji Ahmadu, according to sources, was killed at about 7.00 p.m by gunmen who forced themselves into his compound, attacked and killed him.
Similarly, members of the sect were reported to have killed four other people in Mafoni ward in Maiduguri, Borno State, on Tuesday, while they killed a small boy, burnt two churches, a police station and Konduga Local Government Area secretariat on Tuesday evening.
Three police officers were also wounded in the incident which happened few hours after the Borno State governor, Alhaji Kashim Shettima, inaugurated campaign on polio immunisation in Bama Local Government.
The Konduga attack, according to an eyewitness, happened on a market day, as gunmen invaded the town, shooting sporadically, while residents deserted their houses.
The witness who could not confirm whether people were killed in the incident, said two churches, a police station and the local government secretariat were set on fire.
Another witness said the EYN and the Catholic churches, the police station and the council secretariat were razed, adding that “most of the residents of Konduga town slept in the bush.”
“This is the first time gunmen came to Konduga, it was always in Maiduguri that we used to hear such things,” the eyewitness said.
The Borno State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Mr Samuel Tizhe, confirmed the attack, adding that a small boy was killed while three police officers were injured.
On the killings in Maiduguri, Mr Tizhe confirmed the incident but said he could not give details as it fell under the jurisdiction of the Joint Task Force.
Meanwhile, a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, on Wednesday, fixed April 3 to begin the trial of one Mohammed Ashafa, for allegedly having a link with both the al-Qaeda and the Boko Haram sect.
Ashafa was first arrested in 2006 and arraigned in court but was granted bail. He was later re-arrested by the State Security Service (SSS) in July 2011 for having a link with the Boko Haram.
When the matter came up on Wednesday, Ashafa, who was not represented by any counsel, told the court that he had been detained in the underground cell of the SSS for the past seven months unlawfully without being charged to court.
But an official of the SSS quickly responded and denied the allegation made by Ashafa, saying that it was not true.
Ashafa later pleaded the trial judge, Justice Adamu Bello, to order that he be remanded in the prison instead of the SSS custody, adding that he had suffered enough in the custody of the SSS.
The court ordered the SSS to allow the suspect have access to his lawyer, adding that there was no way he could send him to prison on the current charge, since he had not been arraigned before the court.
The trial judge, who explained to the suspect why he still had to remain in the custody of the SSS, said “they are saying that they will charge you to court for another offence. I cannot make an order that you should be taken to prison.”
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