Gunmen on Monday attacked the premises of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) in Abuja freeing prisoners and killing two police officers.
This was disclosed in a statement issued by the Deputy Force Public Relations Officer, Frank Mba, who said the attack on SARS compound began around 2am on Monday, with a “large number” of gunmen killing the officers and allowing about 30 prisoners inside the facility to escape.
He said: “In the early hours of today, 26th November, 2012, at about 2am, unknown gunmen in large number attacked the premises of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) of the Federal Territory Police Command. Policemen on duty responded swiftly and engaged the gunmen in a gun battle that lasted for some minutes, at the end of which the gunmen were successfully repelled.
“However, in the confusion that ensued, about 30 suspects in the detention facilities of SARS broke out of the cells and attempted to escape. Tactical and coordinated efforts to re-arrest the fleeing suspects yielded instant result. So far, twenty five (25) of the suspects have been re-arrested, while five (5) suspects originally being held in relation to robbery related offences are currently at large.”
Mr Mba said investigation into the attack has begun and that the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar has ordered “water-tight security around all government and police-related facilities nationwide.”
On Sunday, Jaji, the home to Nigeria’s Armed Forces Command and Staff College, one of the country’s most important military colleges was attacked by suicide bombers suspected to be members of Boko Haram. Authorities said the blast killed 11 people.
The suicide bombings and the attack on SARS comes after the military Joint Task Force (JTF) offered a total of N290 million in rewards for information leading to the arrest of top Boko Haram members.
