Boko Haram kills Emir of Gwoza

The Royal father, the Emir of Gwoza, Alhaji Idrissa Shehu Timta was on Friday murdered by gunmen suspected to be members of the dreaded Boko Haram sect in a highway ambush.

The emir, according to witnesses, was initially abducted by the sect alongside two other monarchs, the Emir of Uba, Alhaji Ali Ibn Ismaila Mamza II and the Emir of Askira, Alhaji Abdullahi Ibn Muhammadu Askirama.

Garkida is a border town with Adamawa state, and 241 kilometres south of Maiduguri, the Borno state capital.

The three emirs were travelling in an official Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) in two separate convoys of vehicles, before they were ambushed by the gunmen and kidnapped. The emir of Gwoza was later slain and his colleague; Ali and Askirama were whisked away to an undisclosed destination.

**UPDATE:
Earlier reports said the Emir and the Emir of Uba, were kidnapped.

But as government clarified, there was no hostage taken by the gunmen.

Alhaji Idrissa Timta died from gunshot wounds and two policemen were killed while the other two emirs managed to escape, a source at the Emir of Uba’s palace told Reuters requesting anonymity.

"The emirs of Uba and Askira ran into the bush and they were not seen for a long time, making people believe they had been kidnapped. But they were discovered after some time," the palace source said, adding that most of the vehicles in the convoy were destroyed.

Another source said earlier that the military had been deployed to the area.

Despite a year-long military offensive against it, Boko Haram, which is fighting to reinstate an ancient Islamic caliphate in northern Nigeria, has been able to run riot across the north east and bomb cities across the country.

On Thursday, in the northeastern village of Gurmushi, near Nigeria’s border with Cameroon, suspected Islamist gunmen riding motorbikes killed 32 people.