Gunmen kill monarch, 11 others in Borno
By Aliyu Askira, Bashir Mohammed, Kano, and Sadiq Abubakar, Maiduguri
Just a day after two bomb explosions rocked Kaduna, another bomb exploded at the famous luxury bus motor park located at New Road, Sabon Gari, in Kano, killing five people and injuring eight others.
The explosion took place for the second time within a span of a year, with the first one recording heavy causalities as a result of the ferocity of the attack which sent residents of the area packing.
Speaking to news men at the scene of the blast shortly after it had occurred, the state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Aderenle Shinaba, said the explosion was craftily concealed in a refrigerator which was loaded inside a passenger bus billed to travel to Port Harcourt.
Shinaba said minutes after the refrigerator was loaded into the bus, the bomb went off, as a result of which the bus got partially damaged.
He said even though the explosive was not as heavy as it was imagined, a woman has been confirmed dead and eight other people seriously injured, adding that the victims had been taken to the Mohammed Abdullahi Wase Specialist Hospital in the city for treatment.
He said: “I am just on my way to the hospital to closely monitor how the injured victims were treated. We are still monitoring the situation and we will keep you posted.”
The commissioner further that revealed since the first explosion took place, the police command had held several consultations with the owners of the park on how to beef up security with rigorous checks ensured, stressing that the discussions had been yielding fruits on how to avert future occurrence.
Our correspondent who was at the scene of the blast reports that the Sabon Gari area was peaceful and calm with people going about their normal businesses.
Residents who spoke to our correspondent on the blast wondered why the spectre of explosion should become the business of the day in the northern part of the country and called on the federal government to take decisive action in stemming the tide.
However, an eyewitness, Malam Musa Muhammed, said the luxury bus came from Port Harcourt to offload its passengers at the park, adding: “From nowhere we saw a man pushing a truck; people were telling him to allow passengers to disembark, but he ignored them and just within some minutes, we heard a loud bang and people started running helter skelter for their lives.”
He said: “I saw a head cut off on the ground; it was a woman’s head because it was permed. I also saw no fewer than four dead bodies on the ground.”
The deputy president of the Yoruba community in Kano, Chief Jerry Agunbiade, condemned the act, saying, “We were with security operatives where we were called for a meeting on how to be security-conscious when we heard the explosion.”
In another development, gunmen suspected to be members of the Boko Haram sect yesterday stormed Garubula village in Biu local government area of Borno state and killed the District Head, Alhaji Ibrahim Dawi, as well as 11 others.
A resident, Malam Idrissa Garubula, told journalists on phone in Maiduguri that the gunmen stormed the village at about 11 p.m. and killed the district head and 11 others, including his bodyguard, before they fled.
He said: “The district head was shot on his head and was rushed to Biu General Hospital where he gave up the ghost. He has since been buried according to Muslim rites in Biu town.”
However, it was gathered that there were security operatives in the village when the attackers executed their mission.
Another resident, who does not want his name in print, said: “The gunmen stormed the village in a pick-up van and motorcycles and opened fire on the people.”
Efforts to get the spokesman of the Borno state Police command, DSP Gideon Jubrin, for comment proved abortive as his phone was switched off.
