Okene,
Kogi State - Unknown gunmen stormed a Deeper Life Bible Church opposite the
Federal College of Education (FCE) and opened fire on worshippers, killing no
fewer than 19. Many were injured. The gunmen, who were said to be bearing
sophisticated weapons, stormed the church during the Bible Study, a Monday
programme, at about 7p.m., shooting indiscriminately. The gunmen reportedly
took the worshippers by surprise. They blocked all entrances into the church,
preventing people from escaping as they fired indiscriminately at the
worshippers.
A
source said at least15 worshippers died on the spot; others died in the
hospital. Among the dead was the local government area Pastor, according to a
source who spoke in Lagos where news of the incident sent members into a shock.
One of the injured is the Dean of Student Affairs of the FCE. The attack came
two weeks after an account officer with FCE was abducted from his home and
murdered. An attack on the Living Faith Church on Lagos Road in Okene was last
month repelled by security operatives who stopped an explosive-laden vehicle
parked by road side. It could not be immediately ascertained how many worshipers
were in the church at the time of the attack.
Related
developments
Gunmen
believed to be members of Boko Haram struck again in Sokoto State yesterday.
They
bombed a police station in Shagari Village about 70 kilometres to Sokoto, the
state capital.
Shagari
is the home town of Second Republic President Shehu Shagari. The police station
that was attacked is a few metres away from his home.
A
police source said the attackers came on a motorbike and tossed dynamites at
the police outpost while firing at the policemen on duty.
Sokoto,
the seat of the Caliphate, was attacked last week.
Boko
Haram, the violent Islamist sect, yesterday claimed responsibility for Sunday’s
killing of six soldiers and two civilians in Damturu, the Yobe State capital.
The
group said it was responsible for other weekend attacks in the Northeast.
Also
on Sunday night, four people were killed in their homes by suspected Boko Haram
members in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, as the Joint Task Force (JTF)
alerted the public to an impending series of suicide bombings in the city.
In
an email statement attributed to a Boko Haram (Wester Education is a sin)
spokesman and obtained by The Associated Press yesterday, the group said “One
of (their) fighters” caused an explosion Sunday in Damaturu.
Police
say six soldiers and two civilians were killed in the blast.
The
statement also claimed responsibility for two other attacks in two other
northeast cities. It was not immediately clear which attacks it was referring
to.
The
statement comes after an Internet video featuring the sect’s leader was posted
on YouTube on Saturday.
Boko
Haram is held responsible for more than 660 deaths this year alone according to
international media count.
Apart
from Sunday’s attack in Damaturu, the Emir of Fika was attacked on Friday in a
suicide bid but he escaped. His orderly died
A
former Commissioner for the Environment in Borno State Alhaji Abdulkadir Kaasa,
was shot dead in his home in Maiduguri on Sunday.
Two
of the victims of Sunday night killings in Maiduguri were residents of Lawan
Bukar, where Alhaji Fannami Gubio, the original candidate of the All Nigeria
People’s Party (ANPP) in the governorship election in 2011 was killed.
Another
victim was killed in the Railway Quarters, where the headquarters of the sect
was located before the 2009 clampdown. It was there that its leader Mohammed
Yusuf was killed by security operatives alongside dozens of his followers.
One
other person was killed at Gamboru Ward. The killing caused apprehension among
residents of the town.
Though
there was no official confirmation at press time, a military source who spoke
anonymously told reporters that the military had intensified efforts at getting
the culprits.
The
JTF yesterday alerted the public to the plan of the sect to undertake massive
snatching of vehicles in Maiduguri and environs which they will later use for
suicide missions.
The
vehicles, according to the task force, would be laden with explosives and used
to bomb strategic locations and cause breach of the peace in the town. The
statement signed by the task force field operations officer, Col. Victor
Ebhaleme reads: “The JTF wishes to alert members of the public of the desperate
moves by Boko Haram terrorists to steal/ snatch vehicles for suicide bombings.”
He
urged those whose vehicles have been stolen to immediately report the theft to
the nearest police station or to the JTF. He warned that anyone who failed to
report and his vehicle is used as a courier of bombs would be treated as an
accomplice of the sect.
