JTF steps up battle against Boko Haram; kills 6 members in Maiduguri & Kaduna!

It was a bad Independence Day for the fundamentalist Boko Haram sect yesterday.

Six suspected members of the group were killed by the Joint Task Force in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital and Zaria, the university town in Kaduna State.

One was killed in a gun duel in Zaria; five were gunned down in Maiduguri.

But the sect’s leader, Abubakar Shekau, vowed more attacks, saying the group would target government officials’ and military leaders’ wives – in retaliation for the detention of its members’ wives.

Boko Haram’s insurgency in the North has been blamed for more than 1,400 deaths since 2010.
 
In Jos, the Plateau state capital, the police yesterday defused an Improvised Explosive Device on Ajayi Street in the centre of the city. The IED was planted by unknown persons at about 10.10 pm on Sunday at the densely populated area of Kwararafa, near the Jos Central Mosque.

The police Bomb Disposal Squad, led by Mr.Abel Mbibi, was alerted by members of the public. Police spokesman Emmanuel Abuh said the suspect had been handed over to the Special Task Force. (STF).
 
In Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, three suspects, including a Burkinabe, have been arrested by the police for allegedly attempting to smuggle explosive devices into the country through a border. The explosives were allegedly meant for Borno and Yobe states.

The suspects, who were paraded by the Deputy Commissioner of Police (Operation), Mr Musa Kimo, at the Police Headquarters, Eleyele, Ibadan are in their 40s.

Kimo said the suspects were apprehended around 8pm on Saturday by the anti-bomb squad. He said they concealed the explosives in a sack.

Kimo added that the anti-bomb personnels confirmed that the explosives recovered from them are capable of destroying a whole community and was expected to be transported to Yobe and Borno states.
 
The police boss said one of the suspects claimed to be a citizen of Burkina Faso works with a mining company in Kwara State. The other said he is from Lambu town in Kano State.

In Zaria, the Independence Day celebration was marred by explosions in Danmagaji when men of JTF again launched an attack on a suspected hideout of Boko Haram members, killing one and arresting another.
 
An eye witness account said security operatives launched an attack on one of the houses in the area, adding that there was an exchange of gun fire with members of the sect for several hours. It was gathered that after the gun duel, the security men overpowered members of the sect, killing one of them and arresting another.

Kaduna State Commissioner of Police Olufemi Adenaike confirmed the incident. He said security men recovered some items. “We are on top of the situation,” Adenaike said, adding that the raid is continuous.
 
Members of the JTF had on Sunday raided a suspected Boko Haram bomb factory at Gaskiya in Zaria during which two persons were killed after a gun battle.