Nigeria\u2019s Inspector-General of Police condemns attack and orders an immediate and thorough crackdown on the perpetrators, saying: \u2018Any cop killers will not go unpunished\u2019.\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n
Two officers have been killed in an attack on the Divisional Police Headquarters in Gajiram town, in the Nganzai Local Government Area of Borno State in Nigeria\u2019s northeast.<\/span><\/p>\n Insurgents arrived in the town on motorbikes in the early hours of Thursday, January 9.<\/span><\/p>\n Police officers were not certain if the insurgents were members of the Jam\u0101\u2019at Ahl as-Sunnah lid-Da\u2019way Wa\u2019l-Jih\u0101d (JAS), more commonly referred to as Boko Haram, or the Islamic State West Africa Province, saying it was difficult to differentiate.<\/span><\/p>\n A fierce gun battle ensued. Two police officers were killed when two hand grenades detonated in a shelter tent behind the division. One officer was severely wounded.<\/span><\/p>\n The insurgents were eventually overpowered and repelled.<\/span><\/p>\n The Borno State Police Command confirmed the attack.<\/span><\/p>\n Assistant Superintendent of Police Nahum Kenneth Daso, the command\u2019s public relations officer, said in a statement released on Thursday: \u201cOn 9th January 2025 at about 12:10 am, unknown gunmen suspected of being Boko Haram terrorists attempted to invade the Nganzai Police Division. Gallant officers who were on watch repelled the terrorists after a series of exchanges of gunfire.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe terrorists threw hand grenades which unfortunately landed on a shelter tent behind the division and fatally wounded two officers, Inspector Bartholomew Kalawa and Corporal Mustapapha Huzaifat who both died on the scene.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n He said police officers responded and repelled the attack after fierce gun battles.<\/span><\/p>\n Daso said two grenades were seized by police officers.<\/span><\/p>\n Yusufu Mohammed Lawal, Borno\u2019s commissioner of police, who visited the scene, commended the officers for their resilience. He sent condolences to the families of the two officers who lost their lives.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe command remains dedicated and committed to ensuring safety and security for all and calls for calm as normalcy has been restored,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n Mohammed Aisatami, a Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF) member in Nganzai, told RNI that the attackers came on two motorbikes, two on each bike.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe attackers opened fire wildly on the police division. The police were taken by surprise, so were unable to respond promptly. Two police officers died when a hand grenade was thrown at them.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe were at a checkpoint nearby the police station when we heard the gunshots. We rushed to the scene but when we arrived, we saw the two dead bodies of the police officers. The attackers had already left.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Aisatami said Gajiram was calm. \u201cBut on Thursday people were scared and most of them stayed indoors.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Nigeria\u2019s Inspector-General Of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, condemned the attack and ordered an immediate and thorough crackdown on the perpetrators.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cAny cop killers will not go unpunished,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n He expressed \u201cheartfelt condolences\u201d to the families of the deceased officers, assuring them that their sacrifice would not be in vain.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cTheir sacrifice in the line of duty will not be forgotten,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n Egbetokun assured the families that the benefits and entitlements of the fallen officers would be paid immediately.<\/span><\/p>\n A statement released on Friday by Olumiyiwa Adejobi, the force public relations officer, said: \u201cThe IGP has directed the Zone 15 Assistant Inspector-General of Police, Kenechukwu Onwuemelie, to mobilise adequate resources and personnel and collaborate with other security agencies to ensure the perpetrators of this nefarious act are found and caused to face the full wrath of the law.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cAs investigations continue, the IGP reaffirms the commitment of the Nigeria Police Force to holding accountable those who jeopardise and disrupt the security arrangements and safety in Nigeria.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n AYSHA MUSTAPHA KOLIMI<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Nigeria\u2019s Inspector-General of Police condemns attack and orders an immediate and thorough crackdown on the perpetrators, saying: \u2018Any cop killers will not go unpunished\u2019.\u00a0 Two officers have been killed in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":61,"featured_media":53229,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-53228","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-peace-and-security"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ndarason.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53228"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ndarason.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ndarason.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ndarason.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/61"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ndarason.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53228"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ndarason.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53228\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":53231,"href":"https:\/\/ndarason.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53228\/revisions\/53231"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ndarason.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/53229"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ndarason.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53228"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ndarason.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53228"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ndarason.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53228"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}