Members of the dreaded Islamist sect, Boko Haram, have sacked a police station in Banki, a border town with Cameroon, in the troubled Bama Local Government Area of Borno State, after which they took over the town, slitting throats of residents on Wednesday.
Though, details of the casualties of the attack were sketchy as at press time on Thursday, the Borno State Commissioner of Police, Lawan Tanko, told journalists that the insurgents killed a policeman and some of his men sustained injuries.
“I confirm there was an attack on Banki town by suspected members of the Boko Haram in the early hours of Wednesday.
“The police station in the town was partially affected. I lost an officer and some of my men sustained injuries”, Tanko said.
It was also gathered that an unspecified number of residents were killed by the sect members, who undertook a door-to-door raid, slitting throats of residents in the siege that took over an hour before fleeing in the earlier hours of Wednesday.
This latest attack was not the first on the town as it has become vulnerable with the sacking of security agencies in the town.
A resident of the town, Mr John Samuel, who survived the attack, told newsmen in Maiduguri on Thursday that the attackers rode on motorcycles and Hilux vehicles and used sophisticated weapons for the attack.
“They drove from the bush around 2 a.m. on motorcycles and Hilux vehicles and carried sophisticated weapons”, he said.
Samuel added that the gunmen used rocket propellers to attack the police station which led to fire outbreak.
“Some policemen at the station tried to engage the gunmen in a shoot-out but when they realised that the invaders had superior power, they fled”, he said.
