The Boko Haram sect on Sunday killed a former police officer and two of his friends in a shootout that also claimed lives of three members of the dreaded sect.
Spokesman of the JTF, Lieutenant Colonel Sagir Musa said militants attacked soldiers in the city of Maiduguri in a raid launched late Saturday, triggering a fierce gun battle that lasted until early Sunday.
“The attack was repelled. Sect members retreated through narrow paths to different locations only to re-organise and shoot dead a retired police inspector and two of his friends right in front of his house.”
Musa said three Boko Haram members were killed in the shootout.
One resident said about 20 gunmen attacked a police station with rifles and explosives.
“There was a shootout that continued throughout the night and around 200 residents were forced to lie on their faces along the streets to avoid being caught in crossfire,” he said.
Another local man said he saw six dead bodies.
“The shooting continued throughout the night, we did not sleep,” he said.
Boko Haram, blamed for a wave of attacks mainly in northern Nigeria, has targeted mostly the police and other symbols of authority in Africa’s most populous nation including clerics and worship places.
