Since Thursday, when bombs rocked Force headquarters, in Abuja, the entire northern Nigeria has been in panic. There are fears that the dreaded Boko Haram, which was responsible for the bombing, may attack other cities.
Sources revealed that the fear for more bombing is founded, as Boko Haram members have vowed to “disgrace the police” for daring to give the group ultimatum to stop its activities. The Abuja bombing came less than 24 hours after the Inspector General of Police Hafiz Ringim, gave assurances that Boko Haram would be history in two weeks if it doesn’t disarm.
Since yesterday, residents of cities, like Kano, Kaduna, Bauchi, Jos, Katsina, Sokoto, Gasua, Kebbi and others have been in fear. Sources revealed that they now avoid public places, like market, social activities and churches, for fear Boko Haram could plant bombs there.
The fear, it was gathered, is heightened by the fact that since this week bombs have been detonated in some parts of Kaduna, including markets.
Police declare war
Following the attack on police headquarter, the police high command has declared war on Boko Haram and other pro-violence groups in the country. Sources close to the police revealed that the IG and others consider Thursday’s attack as a slight on the police.
Sources said that the police have, therefore, beefed up security in major cities in the North, especially those prone to terror attacks. Some of the offices drafted to the street to keep watch, it was gathered are in mufti, as the police not only want to forestall fresh attacks but also catch those who plant the bombs.
It was gathered that the police adopted the tactics, believing that policemen in uniform would be easily noticed.
Sources revealed also that the police authorities have given policemen shoot-on-sight orders, as regarding suspected terrorists.
One police officer, who pleaded anonymity, told Saturday Sun: “We have been told to return fire for fire. That the attackers have the effrontery to come into our headquarters to plant bomb is like daring the police. You know that when robbers or anybody kills a policeman, the police will not rest until such people are brought to book. The police will not rest until Boko Haram is flushed out.”
Boko Haram terror in three years
Since the advent of the Boko Haram, three years ago, the country has not had rest. Its first onslaught was some number of killings, which mainly targeted the police and army.
After the first entry, a joint team of soldiers and policemen seemed to put the sect in check, as it its activities were already spreading to Yobe and Bauchi states.
After the killing of its leader, Yusuf Mohammed, in suspicious circumstances that made many suspect the government was hiding from the truth, Boko Haram seemed reined in. But it did not take long for more insurgence and bloodshed to take a higher dimension.
It got to a point that the war became a straight fight between the sect and the former Borno State governor, Modu Sherrif. Many had believed that the war would be over after Sherrif left office. A little before the election that ushered in the new administration, the first governorship candidate of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) was killed by Boko Haram, in the company with ex-Governor Sherrif’s younger brother and six others.
Two weeks ago, the younger brother of the Shenu of Borno was a victim, as he was killed in a Boko Haram bombing. Churches, mosques, hospitals, public offices and other places have been targets of Boko Haram attacks, where casualty indices escalated.
Before the bombers brought their terror to the police office, there had been earlier embarrassments, like the bombing of Eagle Square premises on October 1, 2010, the bombing on Christmas Eve and New Years Eve, at the Mogadishu Barracks and another location in Abuja. After the inauguration, bombing rocked the premises of a military formation in Bauchi and another one in an Abuja suburb.
The bombing of Nigeria police headquarters appears a test of might between the Nigerian Police and the Boko Haram sect.
The war of attrition
Penultimate Thursday, Vice President Namadi Sambo, governor of Borno State, Kashim Shetima, Chief of Army Staff, Inspector General of Police and Borno State commissioner of police, met and discussed the high level of insecurity in the Borno State caused by Boko Haram. At the meeting, Ringim had said that in less than two weeks, Boko Haram would be history, as the police and the army would flush its members out of the state and the country in general.
To realise the intention, the IGP said armoured vehicles had been procured. A day before the police headquarters bombing, Boko Haram had declared a fight-to-finish and vowed to launch fresh attack on those they described as enemies of Allah. The group said that its trained Islamic fighters were already on ground, in different parts of the country, to launch more attacks, including the Federal Capital Territory. The headquarters, which is the apex office of the police, became the first victim.
The sect’s press statement translated from Hausa reads: “We make bold to state that we will carry out renewed offensive on the Nigerian Police and we shall wait to see how they (police) will crush us with their armoured vehicles.”
The sect warned members of the public, particularly residents of Maiduguri and its environs, to restrict their movement, “as we do not wish to shed the blood of innocent civilians.”
A day hardly passes without the sect throwing bombs that leave trails of blood. The bombing has further depleted the image of the Nigeria Police, coming less than three weeks when some rampaging soldiers in Badagry, Lagos allegedly killed three of its officers and three others and the police leadership did its best to exonerate the soldiers.
No comments from the police
For the Force Public Relations Officer, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Olusola Amore, this is not the best of times, as he declined to comment.
How IG was saved
When pandemonium broke out at Louis Edet House, Nigeria Police headquarters, Abuja on Thursday, following the bombing by people suspected to be members of Boko Haram sect, Inspector General of Police, Hafiz Ringim, was abandoned to his fate while other police officers took to their heels and ran to safety.
It was at this point that his Aide de Camp (ADC) turned and rushed to ferry his boss to safety. According to an eyewitness, who was at the waiting room when the incident occurred, people within the premises scampered to safety after the second bomb exploded.
The eyewitness, who pleaded anonymity, said: “I was waiting at the reception to be ushered in to see the IG when the blast came. We were arguing over the possibility of the Boko Haram group attacking Abuja when we heard a thunderous sound. Come and see stampede; police officers were jumping all over the place.
“Initially the IG’s ADC ran out before he suddenly rushed back, apparently having remembered that the boss was still in the office. They had to forcefully open an exit at the back, where we jumped out. It was a mad race down the staircase to the exit at the back for fear that the building would be bombed next.
“The policemen with king size tummies were able to scale high fence walls and the way they were running would fetch the country gold medals if it were an Olympic event.”
The source said that he jumped the fence and sustained injury on his leg and continued running along with the policemen. According to him, it was God that saved him.
Panic outside Abuja
At one of the police formations in Lagos, a mild drama ensued when the news of the bomb blasts filtered in. When a phone call came to announce that there were bomb blasts in Abuja, the boss of the formation and others were panting as if the blasts had occurred in their office.
As the call came, the officers stormed the office of the boss to inform him of the breaking news. The boss ordered the anti-bomb squad to ensure that every car entering the compound was screened while efforts should be put in place to ensure that confiscated vehicles were returned to the owners or moved to another location.
Soon, the office of the police chief turned into a conference room, as senior officers took time to analyse the incident.
Some of them called on IG to screen the entire police, as there might be those who believe in Boko Haram struggle within the police and would stop at nothing to ensure that it succeeds. While some blamed indigenes of northern states for withholding relevant information from the police, others blamed human rights organisations for not allowing the police to do their job.
“These men would surely see the bad side of the police because this is the height of it all. I am sure that the IG will leave no option out to get to the root of this matter, the only problem we have is with the residents and their human rights counterparts who are always shouting whenever police are doing their job. But I know that the IG would do all it takes to get to the root of this matter,” said one of the officers.
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