Nigeria - Officer Dead As Boko Haram Set Police Station Ablaze In Yobe

Suspected Boko Haram gunmen, in the early hours of Monday, attacked Bara divisional police station in Yobe State, killing one police personnel in the process.

Bara is the headquarters of Gulani Local Government Area of the state, south of Damaturu, the state capital.

Witnesses said the attack started around 1.00 a.m on Monday and lasted for two and a half hours.

The attackers succeeded in burning down the police station and went away with three cars in the area.

The state Commissioner of Police, Sanusi Rufai, who confirmed the incident to newsmen in Damaturu, said though the police station was burnt using a rocket propelled launcher, the attack was repelled by the police.

He also said the police personnel who was killed, a corporal, was slit in his residents around 5.00 a.m, hours after the attack.

The hoodlums, according to him, also burnt down the masts of telecoms operator in the area and also catered away three vehicles, including a Hilux van belonging to the local government area.

The commissioner said no arrest had been made in connection with the attack and no individual or group had claimed responsibility of the attack.

Meanwhile, residents in Gulani told the Nigerian Tribune that contrary to the claim by the police commissioner, the gunmen had a field day at Bara after sacking the police station.

According to them, “when the gunmen came, we were told that the police fled. In fact, some of them ran and hide in some houses, they remove their uniforms and we borrowed them clothing.”