Boko Haram Attacks Borno Gov Convoy

Gunmen believed to be members of the dreaded Boko Haram group, on Sunday evening, fired gun shots at the convoy of the Governor of Borno State, Kashim Shettima.

This attack came barely a week after Shettima claimed that members of Boko Haram were better equipped than the Nigerian Army. The Presidency later slammed the governor for making such statements.

The suspected insurgents shot at the official vehicle of the state Commissioner for Higher Education, Bello Ayuba, while returning from Bama, a town near Maiduguri, the state capital with the Governor. The Commissioner was in the Governor’s entourage who condoled with victims of Boko Haram’s attack in Bama some days ago.

The insurgents targeted the engine compartment of Ayuba’s car, which caused the vehicle to breakdown. But soldiers attached to the convoy engaged the terrorists in a gun battle. The insurgents later fled into a nearby forest.

Narrating the incident to journalists, Ibrahim Yakubu, an eyewitness said, ‘the suspected gunmen narrowly missed the commissioner and his driver, by firing several gunshots into the engine compartment, before convoy soldiers engaged the fleeing suspects into the Sambisa Forests, 30 minutes after the attempted assassination on the Borno official, while returning from Bama yesterday to condole and sympathize with the people.

‘The gunmen capitalized on the fact that the Governor’s convoy was returning to Maiduguri and started firing at the commissioner’s official vehicle without hitting the commissioner or his driver yesterday.’

The attack was confirmed by spokesmen of the Nigerian Army, 7th Division and the Borno State Police Commissioner; Col Mohammed Dole and Tanko Lawal respectively.