A female police officer who survived the
shootings at the barracks said the unidentified assailants invaded the
place and conducted “systematic killings” shortly after a bomb detonated
at the nearby state police command.
She said the operation appeared to be
well-timed, as it was executed at a time when people were scampering for
safety following the explosions.
“They just came into the barracks in
mobile police uniforms soon after the explosions at the police command
and took the advantage of the situation shooting every person they saw
running for safety,” she told Daily Trust yesterday.
“These men deceived us by wearing mobile
police uniforms and giving impression they were only there for a rescue
mission; they took us by surprise when they started shooting every
person they saw,” the officer said.
After the indiscriminate shootings in
the open, the men then went house-to-house in the barracks killing
people including those who took cover inside toilets, she said.
“The following day dead bodies littered
all over the place. It was a sad day indeed; we will never forget this
day in life,” she added.
Police Corporal Aliu Abdullahi also told Reuters news agency he saw men in Police uniform shooting people indiscriminately.
“We were in the mess when we saw people
running and heard gunshots from the gate, I saw them shooting. You could
not differentiate the Boko Haram members from our Police Mobile Force
men because they wore the same uniform,” Aliu, who survived multiple
gunshots, said.
“They were more than 50. As I tried to
run a bullet hit me on my left hand and another shot hit me on my chest I
fell,” he added.
Another witness said he saw close to 50
assailants when they attacked the police barracks and “killed every
person inside except women and children.”
He said began to climb the wall before they saw him and fired, hitting and injuring him.
The witness, who declined to give his
name, said “all of them were dressed in either Mobile Police uniforms or
Army camouflage. They also wore black cloth under their service caps.
They appeared were more professional in the operation than the
military.”
A resident of the neighbourhood
surrounding the barracks said at least 100 people were killed at the
barracks alone. He said the place was now a ‘ghost town’ as most of the
residents had taken refuge in other parts of the city.
He said the barracks which used to be
safe place for refugees whenever there were religious or ethnic crisis
in town was now deserted.
Daily Trust learnt that the attack on
the residence of the Assistant Inspector General of Police was carried
out also by unidentified uniformed men who, obviously planning to kidnap
the AIG’s family, told security men on guard that they were sent to
take his family to a safe place.
When it was clear they could not
succeed, they opened fire and the armed guards returned fire and in the
process two of the AIG’s personal staff were killed.
Death toll climbs
The coordinated series of bomb blasts
and shooting sprees mostly targeting police stations on Friday has left
at least 250 people dead, according to medics, making this by far the
deadliest attack claimed by the Boko Haram sect.
One doctor told the AFP news agency that the final toll was likely to be about 250.
“Although the bulk of the bodies were
brought here [the main hospital], others were deposited at three other
hospitals,” the doctor said.
Aid workers were still collecting bodies from the streets yesterday.
Kano police authorities are yet to speak
since the incident took place last Friday as they refused to respond to
any enquiry on anything related to the explosions.
Govt relaxes curfew
The Kano State Government yesterday
relaxed the 24-hour curfew earlier imposed on the state following
Friday’s bomb blasts and gun attacks.
Information Commissioner Umar Faruk
Jibril announced the relaxation to newsmen in Kano, saying the curfew
would now take effect from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Jibril said the measure was meant to
allow the people to conduct their activities within the scheduled
period, and thanked them for complying with the initial curfew.
Emir weeps as Jonathan visist
Apparently overwhelmed by the level of
the carnage, Emir of Kano Alhaji Ado Bayero yesterday shed tears when
President Goodluck Jonathan visited him at his palace.
The emir was seen repeatedly wiping away tears from his face while delivering his emotion-laden speech.
Bayero urged the Federal Government to
increase the number of security personnel in the state to beef up
security given the size of the state. “The security personnel in Kano
are not sufficient enough to give the state the necessary protection in
crisis situation,” he said.
He said the state has only 8,300 police officers to protect over nine million people.
Earlier, President Jonathan said government would not rest until it wiped out all forms of terrorism in the country.
“We cannot allow these terrorists to
keep terrorising us. We will not rest until we wipe all forms of
terrorism in this country so that terrorist will have no place to live
in the country,” he said.
“I am urging every one of us to try and
know his neighbour and what he is doing as a profession so that you can
do self-policing for yourselves before you are taken unawares,” Jonathan
said.
“You people should be assisting the
securities with useful information that will help them do their work
effectively. If you don’t assist the securities and things continue to
happen, one day it will consume all of us,” he added.
He said the Federal Government would
collaborate with the state government to assist victims of the attacks,
and assured that government would assist in boosting irrigation farming
in Kano to provide employment opportunities.
Cars found with bombs
Two cars, a Honda Civic with
registration number BB 748 NSR, Kano and a Kia with registration number
FD 966 LND, were found yesterday wired with locally made explosives
along Eastern Bypass in Kano city.
Police personnel recovered eight explosives locally made with cans of drinks and cigarette filters in the two vehicles.
Other items recovered include a kerosene
stove, an old electricity metre and electric wires. The items were
being kept in police custody.
But efforts to get the police to confirm
the incident proved abortive as access was denied in to the police
headquarters and the telephone of the police spokesman was switched off.
Witnesses said the cars were noticed
parked there since last Friday evening during the time when multiple
bomb explosions rocked the city. The Honda vehicle was found parked at
NNPC mega station while the Kia was parked few metres away, at Chula
filling station along the bypass
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