25th April, 2013
At least two policemen were feared dead on Thursday, after some gunmen suspected to be Boko Haram insurgents attacked a team of policemen in Bama, the headquarters of Bama Local Government Area in Borno.
A witness, Malam Yusuf Ibrahim, told newsmen in Maiduguri that the incident happened when the gunmen ambushed the Divisional Police Officer (DPO), near Kasubla, a commercial area in Bama town.
“Honestly, we cannot say exactly what happened but we learnt that some gunmen ambushed the DPO in Kasubla. Although he escaped with bullet wounds, his orderly and another police officer in his company were shot and killed,” he said.
Ibrahim added that some policemen at the Divisional Police Office engaged the gunmen in a heavy exchange of fire.
He explained that the development resulted to the destruction of at least five lock-up shops while residents of the area ran for their safety in a nearby bush.
The Commissioner of Police in Borno, Alhaji Yuguda Abdullahi, confirmed the development in a telephone interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), saying that the DPO escaped unhurt.
Abdullahi, who said that the attackers made use of explosives said that the attack led to the burning of some shops.
He said that the police had launched a man-hunt for the gunmen.