Gombe: 4 Killed as Gunmen Attack Mobile Police

                                                                                                                                                            

Inspector General of Police, IGP Hafiz Ringim

                                                                            

                                                               By Segun Awofadeji and Seriki Adinoyi

A police officer and three civilians were in the early hours of Sunday killed when unknown gunmen suspected to be Boko Haram members attacked 34 Squadron Mobile Police Base along Dukku Road on the outskirts of Gombe metropolis.

Also in Jos, Plateau State, a soldier was lured to his death, while a reprisal by the Special Task Force (STF) led to the death of a civilian.

Security has been beefed up in Gombe with multiple checkpoints as every passing vehicle is now being stopped and searched. 14 operation vehicles of the police parked close to the armoury which were completely burnt, with the charred remains of the officer on duty. The armoury was blasted with explosives.

The Gombe State Commissioner of Police, Orubebe Gandi Ebikeme, confirmed the attack and deaths but said they were still working on the details of the attack which took place at about 2am Sunday.

Commenting on the development, the Assistant Inspector General of Police, Yola Zone, Mr. John Moronike, expressed relief that the attack on the armoury was not as severe as initially feared.

Moronike refused to ascribe the incident to the Boko Haram sect, armed robbers or any group but said the matter would be thoroughly investigated before they could be sure of the actual culprits.

He said: “We are still working and investigations are on. I don’t want to rush into judgment because it is too early to suspect anyone or group. But one thing I will assure you is that the police are on top of the situation.”

In Jos, a soldier attached to the STF, Sgt. Baba Wuya, was on Saturday night killed along Lasisi Street of Ali Kazaure area of Jos North Local Government Area of the state.

The sergeant was said to have been lured by some youths in the area into a corner where he was killed in cold blood.

This angered the other soldiers, who mobilised and launched a reprisal in the early hours of Sunday, resulting in the death of a civilian, the Ward Head of Ali Kazaure, Alhaji Ahmadu Ali Kazaure, while several others were said to have been seriously injured and are receiving treatment at the Jos University Teaching Hospital (JUTH).

A resident of the street, who gave his name as Abubakar, said the soldiers raided Lasisi Street in great anger and shot at random, killing the man and injuring several others. He said the corpse of the late Kazaure had been deposited at the mortuary in JUTH.

A statement from the STF spokesman, Cpt. Charles Ekeocha, confirmed that the soldier, an STF member, was killed while on duty.

“A soldier serving with the special task force was machetted to death by unidentified persons along Lasisi Street, Ali Kazaure area of Jos and his weapon carted away.

“The soldier, Sgt. Baba Wuya, was on his way to check another of his guard post when the incident occurred,” the statement added.

Ekeocha said it was condemnable that the same people the soldiers had been sent to protect were in turn killing them.

“The soldier was murdered in cold blood ostensibly by the same people he is trying to protect. His murder borders on criminality and that is why his rifle which is the target of the killing was carted away. This weapon will in turn be used to perpetrate crimes on the innocent citizens of Jos and its environs.

“The STF wishes to use this medium to draw the attention of the citizens of Plateau State that any individual or group of persons who are bent on fomenting trouble with the sole aim of truncating the peace of the state are not welcomed,” he said.