Suspected Boko Haram gunmen blow up Council complex, other buildings in Borno State

In less than a week after a suicide bomber killed over a dozen people at a Catholic Church in Kaduna, suspected members of Boko Haram yesterday, attacked Damboa town with Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), torching the council secretariat complex, 20 houses and a fire station.

Sources say the multiple attacks left three people dead. They include a fire service officer and two security guards who were trying to put off the fire.

Damboa is 87 kilometres south of Maiduguri, the Borno State capital.

A resident, Madu Usman said the gunmen came in four unmarked vehicles, chanting “God is great,” and matched to the Damboa Secretariat Complex and housing estate throwing explosives and petrol-bomb at the buildings.

Meanwhile, the Military Joint Task Force (JTF) in Yobe State commended residents for their assistance.

A statement issued yesterday by its spokesman, Lt. Lazarus Eli, in Damaturu said the people were “fully cooperating with the security force in the fight against terrorism by providing timely/useful information and other intelligence tip-offs.”

“To give more people of Yobe the opportunity to contribute in making the State more secure by providing information to the JTF, the Task Force finds it necessary to provide the following additional telephone numbers. For Damaturu residents, they could use-08028403709, 08185079293 and 08062449089; while for Potiskum residents, the numbers to use are; 08175436247 and 08183982219.”

Eli described Damaturu and Pokistum as the two centres with much activities of the Boko Haram religious sect in the State.

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