Despite security measures deployed by the Borno State Police Command, some suspected Boko Haram gunmen have shot and killed a man, and left another seriously injured.
The Nigerian Compass gathered that the two gunmen, who arrived on a motorbike, had targeted the Bulama of Gwaidamgari Ward, behind Railway Terminus quarters in old Maiduguri, but, unfortunately, their victims were Ba’ Abdu, a kolanut trader and Abba Kale, a grain seller.
Abdu was shot dead while sitting in front of a mosque while the injured Kale, was shot in front of his shop at about 1p.m.
The state’s Commissioner of Police, Mr. Ibrahim Abdu, could not confirm the incident as he said he was yet to be briefed.
But an eyewitness revealed that people in the area saw the two persons who rode on a motorcycle before the attack, but could not identify either of them.
"The person behind had a gun in his hand. He was the one who shot the victims one after the other," said the eyewitness.
Narrating her ordeal to the Nigerian Compass, daughter to the deceased said that the family members were inside the house when all hell broke loose.
They later learnt from eyewitnesses that her father, Abdu, was sitting by the mosque, when someone shouted: "That is the Bulama (the ward head)," and then the gunmen fired in his direction. The trader fell down and died instantly.
It will be recalled that a bomb explosion was recorded in the area, located behind the headquarters of the Boko Haram sect, before July 2009 unrest.
Stop and search by security operatives and a ban on motorcycle operations from 6p.m to 7a.m had since been introduced to check activities of the sect and beef up security in the state.
Since the July and August attacks in Maiduguri and Bama, by suspected armed sect members, resulting in the death of six policemen and four civilians, including a ward head, leaving four others seriously injured, security has been heightened, with police and soldiers patrolling sensitive areas.
By Gbenga Akingbule, Maiduguri
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