Chat 212 - News Summary...
- Gunmen attacked a Divisional Police Station and a commercial bank in Makarfi Local Government Area of Kaduna State.
- An eyewitness said that the gunmen disarmed police officers while some escaped.
- Media Adviser to the Governor, Yero said investigation into the incident has began and no casualty was recorded during the attack.
Chat 212 - Newsmail Report...
Gunmen on Sunday night attacked a Divisional Police Station and a commercial bank in Makarfi Local Government Area of Kaduna State.
According to reports, the attackers invaded the town when residents were asleep. National Mirror gathered that the gunmen, suspected to be armed robbers, destroyed the police station and the bank with explosives as officers escaped into the neighbouring houses for safety.
An eyewitness, who pleaded anonymity, said: “The gunmen disarmed police officers while some escaped. Actually, I can’t tell you that people were killed because the attack happened in the midnight of Sunday.”
Governor Mukhtar Yero, who visited the spots of the attack in Makarfi, the hometown of the former governor, Senator Ahmed Makarfi, called for closer security-community collaboration Yero called on members of the public to assist the security agencies with useful and timely information towards securing the lives and properties of all.
In a statement signed by Ahmed Maiyaki, Media Adviser to the Governor, Yero said investigation into the incident has began and no casualty was recorded during the attack. Kaduna State Police Commissioner, Mr. Olufemi Adenaike, confirmed the incident in a telephone interview with National Mirror.
“No casualty. We mobilised our men to the area and the situation is calm,” he said. “People are going about their normal business in Makarfi. No arrest so far. The armed robbers didn’t carry away money in the bank as our men launched counter-attack on them during the incident.”
As part of efforts to protect critical national infrastructure during the sallah celebration, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, said that it has deployed 100, 000 of its personnel across the federation.
The Commandant General of the Corps, Dr. Ade Abolurin, in an operational signal to Zonal and State Commandants as well as various Sectional Heads, charged the corps to ensure effective deployment of their personnel in all nooks and crannies of the country including black spots where criminal elements hibernate.
While explaining that the massive deployment was necessitated by the current security challenges facing the country, Abolurin assured Nigerians of a hitch-free celebration.
He said the deployment would also cover all mosques, praying ground and other strategic places that are likely to be targets of attack.
Also, apart from the regular deployment of personnel, sniffer dogs, SWAT, Special Forces, Nuclear- Biochemical Radioactive Unit, Counter-Force and Counter Terrorism Units are to ensure that their personnel are widely deployed while ambulances have been deployed in strategic places in case of emergency.
“Our operational strategy of deployment shall leave no area uncombed, as the Corps along with other security agencies has put in place machineries to tackle every security challenge that might arise,” he said. In Plateau State, the Special Task Force, STF, said it has taken certain measures aimed at ensuring peace in the state during the Sallah celebration.
The STF in a statement in Jos yesterday, signed by its media officer, Captain Salisu Mustapha, said security agents would increase at checkpoints in the state throughout the festive period.
According to STF, security agents would also intensify vehicular search at all checkpoints in the state. Movements of vehicles, Mustapha said, would be banned from entering premises of recreation centres during the celebrations, while worshippers have been advised to pray at grounds nearest to them and should not carry any form of weapon while going or returning from Eid prayers.
