Boko Haram attacks another
school
•Sets classrooms ablaze
…Gunmen kill 3 cops in Bauchi
bank raid
From TIMOTHY OLA, Maiduguri
and PAUL ORUDE, Bauchi
Wednesday February 29, 2012
For the second time within a
week, Boko Haram attacked
another primary school in
Maiduguri, Borno State capital
yesterday, setting ablaze
classrooms and the headmaster’s
office. Three policemen were
killed in Bauchi when gunmen
attacked a bank and a police
station.
The Joint Task Force (JTF) said
that the fire was not caused by
an explosion. The body of a
middle-aged man was found
close to the school. There was no
official confirmation of the
victim’s identity by Press time.
Only last week, suspected Boko
Haram members made a botched
attempt at bombing Zajeri
Primary School in the outskirt of
Maiduguri. The incident occurred
when the sect attacked Baga
Market while on a reprisal
mission over one of its members
who was captured by traders in
the market.
Yesterday’s attack on Gomari
Costain Primary School was the
second of such in recent times
even as the Boko Haram claimed
responsibility of the earlier
attacks on schools. Spokesman to
the sect, Abul Qaqa, said the
group had attacked a primary
school at Abaganaram in the city
last Saturday, as a reprisal for the
“unjust raiding of our local
Islamiyya Quranic schools by the
JTF members,” alleging that
copies of Qur’an were mutilated.
“The attack and burning of that
school was a warning to
government to quickly caution
the JTF operatives to desist from
raiding our Quranic schools or
risk worst attacks,” said Qaqa.
JTF spokesman, Lt-Col. Hassan
Mohammed, said the fire
consumed two blocks of
classrooms at the primary
school.
“Upon seeing the flames of the
fire at about 6:30 in the
morning, our men rushed to the
scene and met that part of the
school was burnt. We also met
the police team there. There was
no blast, but the police are
currently investigating the cause
of the fire.”
Also, the Police command’s
spokesman, Samuel Tizhe, an
Assistant Superintendent,
confirmed the attack. His words:
“We are, however, investigating
circumstances that prompted the
attacks on primary schools. Most
of the schools affected by the
assault were renovated
recently.”
In Bauchi State, three policemen
were killed when gunmen
attacked a new generation bank
in Jama’a Council area.
The attack which occurred at
9.00 pm claimed the lives of two
policemen on duty, while
another sustained injury and
currently receiving treatment at
an undisclosed hospital.
An eyewitness said gunshots
and loud explosion were heard
around 9pm, a situation which
caused pandemonium in the
area as people ran for safety.
The eyewitness who does not
want his name in print, said that
the gunshots which lasted for
one hour, caused panic in the
area, saying, “we all ran inside
the house and shut doors when
we heard the gunshots in order
not to be affected.”
A resident, Muktar Dan-Abba, said
that he saw bodies of two
policemen being taken away. A
third body was discovered
under the rubble of the burnt-
out station.
“The police station has been
burnt and three policemen were
killed,” he said. Another resident,
Usman Musa, said the police
station caught fire after several
explosions which also brought
down its roof.
“A bank was also burnt and its
vault emptied,” he added.
Members of the Islamist sect
Boko Haram, which has been
blamed for a wave of attacks
mainly in northern Nigeria, are
thought to rob banks to fund
their activities.
Speaking on the incident in a
telephone interview, the
Caretaker Chairman of Jama’are
Local Government Area, Alhaji
Adamu Aliyu Suleman, said he
had gone round the affected
areas to assess the situation,
saying a police station and old
generation bank were blown up
by the gunmen.
He said police bomb experts
detonated 12 explosives at the
premises of the affected bank,
saying “12 bombs were
detonated in my presence this
morning at the bank when I
went to ascertain the situation.
“We are ready to support the
security agencies to fish out the
culprit that committed such act in
order to ensure security of lives
and property in the area,”
Suleman said
When contacted on phone, the
state Police Commissioner,
Ikechukwu Aduba, who
confirmed the incident, assured
of giving more details later as he
was on his way back to Bauchi
from Jama’are where he had
gone to assess the situation.