Gunmen armed with explosives attacked a police
station, a primary school and two cell phone towers in a town in
Nigeria's restive northeast today, setting them ablaze, the military and
residents said.
"We
heard that there were some attacks in Fika by suspected Boko Haram
terrorists. They attacked two telecommunication masts, a police station
and a primary school," Lazarus Eli, military spokesperson in Yobe State
said.
A resident said he had seen the bodies of two
policemen being brought out of the razed police station, but Eli said he
could not immediately confirm any casualties.Eli said troops had
deployed to the town to contain the violence.
Fika
lies some 170 kilometres from Damaturu, the capital of Yobe State and a
hotbed of Islamist extremist group Boko Haram. Residents said the
gunmen attacked their targets with explosives before dawn at around
4:30 am.
"They threw explosives and fired gunshots at
their targets, setting them ablaze, and fled after the attack," Tanimu
Mani said. "Soldiers who arrived in the town went inside the burnt
police station and brought out the bodies of two policemen killed in the
attack," he said.
Another
resident, student Hassan Gaji, said he had heard blasts and gunshots
during early morning prayers. "They were shooting seriously for about
one hour," he said, adding that the town had been taken over by police
and soldiers.
He said the attackers had entered Fika on the
road leading from Potiskum to the north "and went straight to the police
station, bombed it and proceeded to the primary school in the town". A
police source said the attackers looted the armoury before setting the
police station ablaze.
"They emptied
the armoury during the attack and took away some 20 guns and some rounds
of ammunition," Witnesses said panicked residents were fleeing Fika for
nearby Potiskum on Sunday following the attack. "A lot of people are
now leaving for Potiskum which has been relatively calm in recent
weeks," the witness said.
Some
towns in Yobe state, including Damaturu, Potiskum and Fika have been
hard hit by deadly attacks by Boko Haram in recent months, leaving
hundreds of people dead and prompting a heavy army deployment.
Violence linked to the Boko Haram insurgency is
believed to have left more than 2,800 people dead since 2009, including
killings by the security forces. Boko Haram has claimed to be seeking
an Islamic state in Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation and largest
oil producer, although its demands have repeatedly shifted.
No comments:
Post a Comment