Gunmen bombed a police station in Misau, Bauchi State, and robbed a nearby bank yesterday. They killed six people including five policemen at the town that is located 160km north of the state capital, Bauchi.
Heavy gunfire resounded throughout the town as the attackers detonated powerful explosives inside the police station, reducing it to rubble. They also broke into a local branch of a bank and carted away a large sum of money.
The Misau attack is about the sixth on police stations and banks in the state, prompting the inspector-general of police (IGP), Hafiz Ringim, to order the Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID), Abuja, to carry out full and thorough investigation into the series of attacks.
An official of Misau local government council who pleaded anonymity said that the gunmen stormed the bank and police station at about 3pm and started shooting sporadically, resulting in the deaths of the policemen and a civilian while many others were injured.
He said that the five policemen were killed at the station, while the civilian was killed within the bank premises. “We started hearing gunshots all of a sudden and then a bomb exploded at the police station. They later set the station ablaze and freed all the detainees. Everybody was confused and ran helter-skelter as they started shooting into the air. The gunmen later entered the bank and stole money,” he said
The Misau council official said many people received injuries as a result of the attacks that caused panic in the sleepy town.
The state police commissioner, Mr. Ayo Ikechuwkwu Aduba, confirmed the incident in a telephone interview with newsmen, saying that the command was still trying to get the full details of the attacks and the number of casualties involved.
Another eyewitness who spoke to LEADERSHIP on condition of anonymity said two people, a male and female, were hospitalised as a result of injuries they received during the attack, adding that the entire police station, at the gate of Misau town, was shattered by the bomb.
Meanwhile authorities of the University of Ibadan (UI) have confirmed threats by Boko Haram to bomb the institution.
The institution’s public relations officer, Mrs. Joke Akinpelu, in a telephone interview said the threat by the sect prompted the institution to beef up security.
She said the Boko Haram sect had earlier said 17 tertiary institutions would be attacked and that the management was working tirelessly to ensure that lives and property are secured.
LEADERSHIP gathered that the sect had written the vice chancellor of UI, Professor Isaac Adewole, threatening to bomb the university of Ibadan.
At the various entrances to the institution, there are security checks on vehicles and individuals, causing traffic within and outside the university campus.