16 killed as gunmen attack two police stations, banks,

Gunmen attacked two police stations and two banks in Gombi,  a northern Nigerian town, on Thursday, leaving 16 people dead, a local official said, amid a wave of such violence blamed on an Islamist sect.

The attacks rocked the northeastern town of Gombi and killed seven police officers, a soldier and eight others, including bank staff and customers, local government chairman Ahmad Isa Hassan said.

“Sixteen people were killed in all following attacks by gunmen on two police stations and two banks,” said Hassan.

“The attackers were armed with explosives and automatic rifles with which they attacked their targets … For now we suspect the attackers were armed robbers.”

Police have so far declined comment. A police source earlier told AFP that the state police commissioner was on his way to the town located in Adamawa state.

At the time the source was speaking, there had only been indications of one police station being attacked.

“Reports have reached the police headquarters of attacks on the police station and banks in Gombi,” the source had said on condition of anonymity. “The police commissioner is on his way to the town to assess the situation.”

A resident, Husseini Abdurrazak, had earlier said by phone that the gunmen overpowered the police at one station and carted away arms before going to the banks to steal money.

“They were chanting ‘Allahu Akbar’, and our suspicion is they may be members of Boko Haram or just armed robbers hiding under that cover,” he said.

The Islamist sect known as Boko Haram has been blamed for scores of bomb attacks and shootings, mostly in Nigeria’s northeast. A number of bank robberies have also been blamed on the sect.

There have been growing concerns over whether the sect has formed links with extremist groups outside of Nigeria, including Al-Qaeda’s north African branch.

There has also been intense speculation over whether some of the attacks have been politically linked.

Nigeria is Africa’s most populous nation of some 150 million people divided roughly in half between a mainly Muslim north and predominately Christian south.

Most of the attacks blamed on the sect have occurred in Borno state, which neighbours Adamawa.

Hundreds of troops have been deployed to Maiduguri, the capital of Borno, to deal with the sect, but they have in turn been accused of abuses, including killing civilians and burning their homes.

The sect launched an uprising in 2009 put down by a brutal military assault. It appeared to go dormant for about a year before re-emerging with a series of shootings of security personnel, politicians and religious and local leaders.  http://www.naijapaymentsonline.com