Death toll from attack on Nigerian border town rises to 10

AFP/Maiduguri

A screen-grab taken from a video released on You Tube yesterday of Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau flanked by militants. The suspected leader of the Nigerian Islamist group appeared in a video posted on YouTube in which he sends a message to President Goodluck Jonathan and vows to fight on. The 14-minute clip is however mild compared to previous messages from Abubakar Shekau, the alleged leader of the main branch of the group blamed for scores of shootings and bombings, mostly in Nigeria’s mainly Muslim north

The death toll from an attack by suspected members of Islamist group Boko Haram on a town along Nigeria’s border with Cameroon has risen to at least 10, police said yesterday. Suspected Boko Haram members burnt down immigration and customs posts in the town of Banki in Borno state in northeastern Nigeria on Tuesday night, and also tried to set fire to a police station where officers repelled them. An army spokesman previously confirmed five people killed, including one customs and one immigration officer. Borno state police commissioner Bala Hassan said yesterday five suspected Boko Haram members were also killed during a shootout when they attempted to attack the police station. “The attackers tried to burn down the Banki police station during the attack but the police repelled them and killed five gunmen in the shootout,” he said. “We recovered two AK47 rifles with 12 rounds of ammunition and a car used by the attackers.” Banki has a popular market patronised by traders from Nigeria, Cameroon and Chad. Boko Haram’s increasingly bloody insurgency has left more than 1,000 people dead since mid-2009 in Africa’s most populous nation and largest oil producer. Criminal gangs have also carried out robberies and assaults under the guise of Boko Haram.