Three policemen were shot dead in an attack in the early hours of Thursday on Gujba town in Yobe State by insurgents thought to be members of the Islamic State of West Africa Province (ISWAP).
RNI reporter Alhaji Sheriff Brah said the attackers stormed the town in the early hours of Thursday. They arrived in armoured trucks and were shooting sporadically.
Governor Mai Mala-Buni slammed the attack on the town.
In a statement issued on Friday by his spokesman, Mamman Mohammed, Mala-Buni described the victims of the attack as heroes who had laid down their lives in defence of their country.
“The government and people of Yobe State commiserate with the families of the brave security men who lost their lives in the attack.
“The sacrifice made by these brave heroes shall never be in vain,” he said.
Mala-Buni said “senseless and nefarious attacks” would not stop him or his administration’s commitment to always work together with security agencies to safeguard the lives and property of the people.
Several government buildings and residents’ homes were burnt in the attack, which ended when the insurgents were “repelled by soldiers”.
Residents said they were scared of being attacked again.
One said: “We have had many attacks on our town. It is difficult to live in fear all the time. But what can we do? There is nowhere else we can go. We want the government to do more to protect us, to help us feel secure again. Until then, we wait for the next attack and pray that we live through it.”
Gujba town, which is about 30km from Damaturu, the Yobe State capital, has suffered dozens of attacks by members of the Jamā’at Ahl as-Sunnah lid-Da’wah wa’l-Jihād (JAS), more commonly referred to as Boko Haram, and ISWAP.
