Gunmen riding motorbikes yesterday fired shots at the home of acting Inspector General of Police Mohammed Abubakar at the Lawal Dambazau Link Kano, killing two police guards and injuring two others.
The police authorities confirmed that there was a fatal shooting incident around BUK Road area in Kano yesterday but did not say if the IG’s home was targeted.
Residents said the shooting incident happened at about 8.30am when gunmen riding motorcycles opened fire at Abubakar’s home, killing the policemen.
The shooting caused panic in the area as people feared a repeat of the coordinated bomb and gun attacks on January 20 in the city, which claimed at least 185 lives and for which Boko Haram claimed responsibility.
When our reporter attempted to visit the area yesterday, soldiers had blocked all the roads leading to Abubakar’s house and diverted traffic.
Spokesman for the Kano police command ASP Musa Magaji Majiya said the gunmen opened fire “along BUK Road by Island, after Gidan Murtala”, and two policemen on “foot patrol” were killed while two others were injured.
Majiya did not disclose the identity of the affected policemen. He said the “area was thoroughly combed and 15 suspects were arrested while investigation was on.”
The injured policemen were being treated at a hospital, he added.
A spokeswoman for the Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, Hajiya Hawwa Abdullahi, confirmed that two dead bodies of policemen were brought to the hospital’s mortuary.
Acting IG Abubakar was in Abuja at the time of yesterday’s attack on his Kano home, but it was not known if any of his family members were at the residence during the incident.
The attack on Abubakar’s home came a day after soldiers raided a suspected hideout of Boko Haram in Kano, arresting four people.
Clashes between gunmen and security forces have flared several times in Kano since the January 20 attack, which is the deadliest yet claimed by Boko Haram during its two-year-old insurgency.
During that attack, at least eight security formations as well as home of the Assistant Inspector General of Police in charge of Zone 1 were attacked. The AIG’s family escaped with injuries.
