Killings: FG deploys over 7,000 operatives in Borno, Southern Kaduna

•Death toll in Maiduguri rises to six, 27 injured

Borno State Commissioner of Police, Mohammed Aliyu, on Friday, said the death toll during Thursday’s attack on Maiduguri by suspected Boko Haram members had risen to six with 27 injured.

Aliyu, who provided the update while addressing journalists, said five more bodies were discovered between Thursday and Friday.

According to him, the victims included one female at Gwange II and five others who were hit by explosives in separate locations within the city.

The police commissioner said following the incidents, the command, in collaboration with other security agencies, had deployed a total of 7,000 personnel to secure the entire city for the Eid-el-Kabir celebration in order to prevent a breach of peace.

He said the personnel, comprising the Police Mobile Force, Counter Terrorism Unit and Special Protection Unit were deployed in 31 designated mosques for the period of the festivities.

Aliyu said, “Also deployed are personnel from the Explosive Ordinance Disposal, Special Anti-Robbery Squad men with armoured vehicles and sniffer dogs, Civilian Joint Task Force, hunters and the Rapid Response Squad to secure the outskirts of the city.”

The police commissioner added that the measure was to ensure a hitch-free Eid celebration and also enhance security in the state.

He urged the people to be on high alert and avoid large gatherings and report any suspicious activities around them to security agencies, while warning youths in the state against any act capable of disturbing the peace.

Gunmen suspected to be insurgents had, on Thursday, fired four mortars in the city as Muslim faithful in the town were making preparations for Eid-el-Kabir.

The mortars were shot at innocent civilians in Gwange II Primary School, Customs Area near Mansur Motors, and Gidan Ayaba Ngudiba line, all in Maiduguri metropolis, sending many scampering for safety.

Meanwhile, the Kaduna State Commissioner of Police, Umar Muri, has deployed more troops in the southern part of the state to stop further killings in the area.

Muri deployed more troops to Kajuru, Zango-Kataf, Kaura, Kauru and Jemaa local government areas, following a 24-hour curfew imposed on the affected communities by the state government.

The police commissioner said the deployment was part of efforts geared towards restoring law and order in the troubled part of the state, following recent incidents of violence in Southern Kaduna.

This followed the order of the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, who ordered the Kaduna police boss to deploy more personnel in addition to the ones on the ground.

Members of the House of Representatives from Southern Kaduna, led by the Minority Whip of the House, Mr Gideon Gwani, had raised the alarm in Abuja over the planned attacks on their communities by militias and armed herdsmen on communities during the Eid-el-Kabir celebrations.

(PUNCH)