Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Boko Haram kills 22 policemen, 2 soldiers, 21 others •3 Ibadan ram, beans traders killed

AT least 55  persons were killed on Tuesday when suspected Boko Haram militants attacked  separate security formations in the north eastern town of Bama, Borno State, military and police officials said
Spokesman of the Joint Task Force (JTF) in Borno State, Lt- Colonel Sagir Musa also confirmed the incident
“ Suspected Boko Haram terrorists today (Tuesday) at about 5.00 a.m., about 200 Boko Haram terrorists in 18 seater buses and Hilux Vehicles mounted with anti aircraft machine guns, attempted to  attack 202 Battalion Barracks in Bama. 10  Insurgents  were killed during an exchange of fire. We lost 2 soldiers during the attack.
“They came in army uniform pretending to be soldiers but we were able to detect them.”
“The Boko Haram terrorists also killed 14 Nigerian Prison Officials at about the same time this morning. A total 105 inmates were also freed by the terrorist” Musa told reporters.
The suspected terrorists also burnt down a police station and police barracks  as well as a local magistrate court and Bama Local Government Secretariat  where some of the buildings were still on fire as of the time repoters visited.
Police Area commander in Bama town, Alhaji Sagir, told reporters that the Divisional Police station and  police barracks were attacked, while “ 22 police officers lost their  lives, three children  and a  woman were also burnt to death.”
Sagir said the police and other security operatives “ are  still patrolling the nooks and corners of the town to ensure normalcy.”

Bodija market shut
Traders at the Bodija market in Ibadan on Tuesday protested the killing of three of their members by suspected Boko Haram members in Maiduguri, Borno State, on Sunday, with one still missing while another one escaped death.
The traders also shut down the market in honour of their slain colleagues while policemen from Bodija market division, supported by other policemen drafted to the market by the police authorities in Oyo State, also mounted surveillance in order to guard against reprisal.
Nigeria Tribune gathered that the traders, whose names were given as Nihas, Alaba, Amodu and Fatai a.k.a. Coach, had gone to Borno State to purchase beans when they were attacked and slaughtered by unidentified  gunmen about 15 kilometres after Maiduguri, shortly after Gekwa town.
The gunmen allegedly stopped the commercial bus the traders were travelling, after which they started sorting the occupants out according to their ethnic group.
The gunmen were said to have carted away millions of naira in possession of the traders with which they intended to purchase food items for sale in Ibadan.
It was further gathered  that the corpses of two of the victims were deposited in the mortuary at General Hospital, Maiduguri while the seriously-wounded third victim who was also being treated in the same hospital later died and was also deposited in the morgue.
As of the time of filing this report, it was gathered that the corpses of the slain businessmen had been taken to their towns in Ikire, Abeokuta and Ibadan for burial.
Confirming the presence of the police at the market, the Police Public Relations Officer, Oyo State, DSP Olabisi Clet-Ilobanafor, said that it was to prevent any untoward happening in case emotions run high whenever the bodies of the slain traders arrive.
She also added that the market was not shut down by the police but was closed by the market leaders as a mark of respect for their dead colleagues.
It is recalled that a similar act occurred during the Ileya festival in 2012 when three ram traders were also killed when they went to Maiduguri to buy rams they intended to sell during the festive period.
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