Three persons including a cleric and a cobbler were on Thursday night shot dead by suspected members of the Boko Haram sect in Maiduguri, Borno State.
It was also learnt that a suspected member of the sect was killed by the men of the Joint Task Force, JTF, during a shootout in the Maiduguri metropolis.
Also a multiple auto crash involving some vehicles, killed one of the drivers injured 22 other people at Tamsukau village of the state along the Maiduguri-Damaturu road, on Thursday.
It was gathered that some Boko Haram men had attacked the JTF troops around Gwange within the metropolis few minutes to the commencement of the 7pm curfew on Thursday night and subsequently met their waterloo as the military were prepared for them. `“Some men in a car had attacked the JTF soldiers around the Gwange Four Primary School, just a few metres away from the Health Centre.
But the soldiers fired back at them, killing one of them while the others fled. The soldiers later searched the car and this morning, the JTF came with some anti-bomb people to detonate the bomb,” a resident around the area, who preferred anonymity told journalists yesterday.
Moments after the gun battle in Gwange ward, another set of gun men hacked down an Islamic scholar, one Mohammed Alhaji Bukar and a cobbler. Sources revealed that those killed were suspected by to be informants of the Department of Security Services, DSS.
Police Public Realtions Officer, PPRO, Samuel Tizhe, an assistant superintendent confirmed the killings of the Islamic cleric and the cobbler. He said the police have since cordoned off the area, adding that “investigation into the killings have since commenced.”
He said, “It is true the two persons were killed last night by suspected Boko Haram members. One is a cobbler while the second is an Islamic scholar. We have commenced investigations into the killings and we call on good spirited individuals to avail us with useful information to track down the sect members.”
In another development a deafening sound from an explosion was heard in the city at about 7.15am yesterday. Sources said the explosive went off around Gwange 4 Primary School, same area where the JTF engaged the sect in a gun battle earlier on Thursday.
When contacted, the JTF spokesman, Lt Colonel Hassan Mohammed said he could no longer speak for the JTF, pointing out that he had been transferred out of the state.
Another JTF source however confirmed that there was no casualty from the explosion. “We discovered an Improvised Explosive Device, IED, planted by suspected Boko Haram sect near a primary school but it was successful detonated by the JTF this morning (yesterday),” the officer who preferred anonymity said. He also confirmed the killing of a Boko Haram suspect by the task force.
Meanwhile, three vehicles were involved in a multiple crash yesterday. Leading to the death of their drivers and the injuring of passengers.
One of the vehicles with registration number YB 35A02 belonged to the Yobe State government.
It reportedly collided with a Toyota commercial bus with Yobe State registration, XA 715 FUN., and a Volkswagen Golf commercial vehicle with Katsina registration number AE 884 DTM
The Borno State Sector Commander of Federal Road Safety Commission, FRSC,, John James confirmed that the Tamsukau multiple auto crash was caused by dangerous overtaking on the highway by the commercial taxi driver who also died in the accident.
He said: “It was in the process of avoiding the taxi driver that the other two drivers of vehicles crashed into each other, while the taxi driver ended up in the ditch, two metres away from the other two vehicles.”
He said the 22 other passengers including two of the drivers and a pregnant woman,sustained serious injuries on their limbs and heads, while attempting to escape from the crashed bus heading to Maiduguri at 4.35pm.
0 comments:
Post a Comment