A series of attacks by suspected Boko Haram Islamists in northeast Nigeria has killed a number of people and destroyed several buildings and residents on Friday.
Explosions and gunfire that started late on Thursday shook the city of Potiskum, with residents reporting several schools and a government building burnt, along with a number of dead. According to Police, they were seeking to restore calm and clear unexploded bombs on Friday morning, while some of the ordnance continued to detonate. The number of casualties can not be given yet. “There are so many bombs here and there and I can’t give you the casualty figure now, because our men are still in the field to restore calm,” said state police commissioner Patrick Egbuniwe.
A military source also said some houses had been destroyed by homemade bombs and a security checkpoint was attacked.
He said Islamist extremist group Boko Haram was suspected behind the violence. They say an account can not be establish as of now on how many suspected people were killed but one suspect was shot at the checkpoint.
Residents of the city, which has been repeatedly hit by Boko Haram, explain that they have been heavy explosions and gunfire. The city has been under military lockdown on Friday morning as security forces sought to track down the attackers. Residents say they saw number of bodies and several schools burnt, including an Islamic seminary. The local government secretariat has been completely burned and several shops around it ablaze from last night’s attack.
About five primary schools, including an Islamic seminary, have been burnt in the attacks following the violence linked to Boko Haram’s rebellion in northern and central Nigeria. Security forces have also lost their lives since 2009 more than 2800 people are believed to have died in these attacks. Boko Haram has repeatedly attacked Christians across northern Nigeria. The sect has said it wants to create an Islamic state in the mainly Muslim north of Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, where most people in the south are Christian
