Three Killed as Boko Haram Strikes Again

Posted by admin Borno, State News Wednesday, December 29th, 2010

Three persons were killed on Tuesday in a fresh attack in Maiduguri, Borno State, where a similar violence led to the death of six persons the same day bomb explosions claimed scores of lives in Jos. Some assailants suspected to be members of a religious sect, Boko Haram, fired shots into a teaching hospital killing a police officer and two others in the city. In Abuja, there are widespread fears that the bombings may be replicated in the nation’s capital, three months after the Independence Day blasts.

In Plateau State, the police command is investigating a fresh bombing at the Orientation Islamic Secondary School, Barkin Ladi, Barkin Ladi Local Government area of the state. The Boko Haram sect had reportedly claimed responsibility for earlier bomb blasts in which claimed 80 lives on Christmas Eve.The military said Monday they arrested three persons who were attempting to plant more bombs. In the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), there are reports of suspicious movements by fundamentalists in the satellite towns. But FCT Police Commis-sioner, Haruna John, said his command was on top of the situation and called on residents to provide information on suspicious activities to the command for immediate action.

THISDAY checks revealed that residents of the territory, especially satellite towns notably Dutse, Karu, Nyanya and Kuje had sleepless nights following reports that there might be a replication of the bombings. Similarly, a pastor of a church in Kuje Area Council, who pleaded anonymity, called a relation living in Karu at about 11.00pm on Tuesday and complained of strange movements in the area where he lived, alleging that he witnessed some young fundamentalists in the area looking for empty cans to buy. “They approached my son and the boy ran into the house asking the mother if there was any empty four-litre can. The mother gave him the one we used last for vegetable oil but I intercepted it. After his explanation, I stopped him immediately,” the clergyman said.

News of the fresh explosion in Plateau State has jolted the citizens who were already celebrating the gradual return to peace after the violence in Jos. Confirming the incident, the state Commissioner of Police Abdulrahaman Akano told newsmen in his office that the bomb exploded at the Islamic college in Barkin Ladi. He said: “The man who claimed to be a lecturer of the college in whose hand the bomb detonated on Tuesday is already in our custody in a hospital undergoing treatment from the injuries he sustained as a result of the explosion.”The man in question claimed he was mixing chemicalsin the school and that it was the chemical that exploded in his hands. “The man sustained injuries on the hands, face, chest and legs.

“We are investigating the man because his claims of mixing chemicals is not enough to explain what we saw.” Chairman of the local government, Dr. Fom Pam Dakwak, said the college belongs to an individual. We cannot conclude now until the police investigation but we are highly suspicious of evil intention in the explosion,” he said. Some residents in Barkin Ladi where the explosion occurred had sent a delegation to the police headquarters Jos with the allegation that a religious group was preparing a local bomb to attack the area. A member of the delegation, Sam dan Gyang, told THISDAY that they had been hearing rumours that the Hausa community in the area was plotting against them.

Gyang said: “We have been praying that God should take care of our enemies for we don’t know them. Now God is answering our prayers. This is just the beginning of the revelation. God is not sleeping. God will expose them all.”wp_posts