Boko Haram razes police station, attacks bank, kills 2
Two people were reportedly killed in Askira, a small community south of Borno State when gunmen suspected to be members of Boko Haram attacked a bank and police station yesterday.
Residents of the sleepy town, which is the headquarters of Askira/Uba Local Government in the southern part of the state started the day without any premonition that a violent attack was in the offing.
But at about 10am, some gunmen reportedly stormed the town in a Volkswagen Gulf car and opened fire at the police station. They were said to have proceeded again to UBA Plc branch in the town after they set the police station ablaze.
It was gathered that two dead bodies lay on the ground within the bank premises after the attack but residents said they were yet to identify if the victims were policemen or civilians who had gone to transact business at the bank.
Residents said they were compelled to run to their homes for safety throughout the two hours that the attack lasted.
According to a resident of the town, the gunmen did not attack any place other than the police station and bank. “They only targeted police station and the bank, they did not attack any place of worship or any group of persons aside those who they thought wanted to stop them. Even in the bank, we heard they only beat up customers and went for the cash. I don’t know if the two killed were security men or customers”, the source said.
Another resident also lamented, saying the attack was unprecedented. “We have never witnessed such in this local government before, though we have been hearing of attacks every day in Maiduguri, we never knew that it was like this.”
Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) of the state Police Command, Samuel Tizhe, an assistant superintendent of police, said he heard about the incident but could not give detail since the command was yet to get official report from the area.
