Boko Haram Kills Director, 2 Others

Unidentified gunmen, suspected to be members of the Boko Haram sect, on Thursday in Maiduguri, killed three people, including a director of the Borno State Civil Service Commission (CSC).

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that two persons were also injured in the incidents when the gunmen, believed to be five in number, attacked some residents of Bulumkutu Ward in the state’s capital.

The murdered director was identified as Mr Turumda Malgwi who who was 46 years old.

Eye-witness account said that the incident occurred at about 4 p.m. when the

gunmen from nowhere, attacked a group of people sitting behind their houses, chatting with one another.

NAN further learnt that the gunmen burst into the residents and opened fire on them and later took to their heels.

“We started hearing gunshots all of a sudden and then we saw some people lying

in their blood,” said one of the victims who narrowly escaped death from the scene.

According to him “everybody was confused and we started running helter-skelter as the gunmen continued firing indiscriminately in the crowd”.

The Borno State Commissioner of Police, Mr Simeon Midenda, confirmed the incident.

He said the three people died on the spot, while the injured ones were immediately rushed to the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital (UMTH) for treatment.

“This attack had all the modus operandi of previous ones associated with Boko Haram, but with little difference as the gunmen did not ride in a vehicle to the spot in order to evade security checkpoints on the road.

“Rather they walked to the area to commit their heinous act,” the commissioner stated.

Midenda assured that the police were on the trail of the fleeing attackers.

“We are doing our very best to ensure the protection of lives and properties in Borno State.

“We once again call on all well meaning citizens to furnish the police with useful information,” he said, adding that “security is a collective responsibility of all.”

NAN reports that the latest attack came 48 hours after a similar one at a local bar,

leaving five persons dead.

The incident also occurred barely 28 hours after a gun battle between some Boko Haram members and men of the Joint Military Task Force (JTF), reportedly left four soldiers wounded.

Others killed in the attack include a 67-year-old retired civil servant with the Ramat Polytechnic, Mr Yakubu Iliya, and another unidentified man, while two others were wounded.