The dreaded Boko Haram sect yesterday sent a threat letter to Kano State Government, warning her of a planned attack over what it termed the indiscriminate arrests of its members under the pretext that they were thieves and armed robbers.
This latest development comes as the sect reportedly killed five persons in Maiduguri, Borno State, while three more persons were killed in Kano by unknown gunmen.
Leader of the sect, Abubakar Shekau who threatened to launch attacks on Kano city if the security agencies continue with the arrests also sent the letter to media houses. The leader alleged that its members since the past five months were being hounded on false allegation.
“We are therefore compelled to write this letter to inform Kano residents of this development so that when we launch attacks in the city as we have been doing in Maiduguri, they should not blame us,” Shekau stated in a letter emailed from an address previously used by the sect.
Three suspected members of the sect were yesterday killed in a blast while trying to detonate a bomb. Immediately after the blast which impact was heard in the neighbourhood of Shuwari, men of the Joint Task Force (JTF) were quickly drafted to cordoned off the whole area.
The spokesman of JTF Lieutenant Colonel Hassan Ifijeh Mohammed who confirmed the incident at a press briefing in Maiduguri said it occured at about 9a.m. According to him, men of the JTF discovered that there was an explosion in a house inhabited by unidentified suspected Boko Haram sect members.
He revealed that investigations showed that the house was used by the sect as a major factory for the production of Improvised Explosives Device (IED). He added that three mutilated corpses of suspected sect members responsible for the manning of the factory were found inside the house.
Displaying some explosive items which the JTF said it recovered from the scene of the blast, to journalists, the military task force said they included – three big drums which were filled with ready-made explosives connected with wires, large quantity of unused explosive materials, three AK 47 riffles, bomb timers, a laptop and other items use for making explosives.???
LEADERSHIP SUNDAY further learnt that there was a stampede yesterday at the Karkasara Quarters in the Kano Metropolis as gunmen suspected to be armed robbers killed three people after shooting sporadically at innocent people.
According to an eyewitness, one of the victims was a doormaker who was busy trying to complete a door for his customer but was cut down by the bullets of the gunmen. The eyewitness who also said the robbers invaded the area with three different vehicles, explained that theyattempted to run down whoever crossed their way.
According to the witness, “There was heavy gun battle between the police and the robbers.” He added that while the cross fire lasted, three persons were killed and a student who arrived at the scene to see his colleague was shot in his buttocks.
When contacted, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Magaji Musa Majiya, confirmed the incident, saying that the police were investigating the matter. According to him, details of the robbery case will be made known after a thorough investigation.