At least two policemen and five suspected members of Boko Haram died after a midnight shootout between the insurgents and security forces in Gashua town of Yobe State, residents and security sources said. Gunmen robbed one of the second generation banks in the town, carting away more than N9 million.
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Also, residents of Bama, 75 kilometres from Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, have fled after gunmen suspected to be Boko Haram sect members shot dead at least four policemen and set ablaze houses, yesterday, according to residents and security sources.
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Gashua is about 185 kilometres from Damaturu, the Yobe State capital and also an epicenter of Boko Haram sect which had witnessed series of killings and bombings in recent times.
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Briefing newsmen in Damaturu, the state Police Commissioner, Mr. Sanusi Rufai, said: "Gunmen suspected to be Boko Haram sect members attacked Gashua town, Wednesday, where they killed two policemen, robbed a bank and went away with over N9 million, while five of the suspected sect members were equally killed.
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Likewise, spokesman of the Joint Task Force, JTF, Lieutenant Eli Lazarus, said in a statement that most of the Boko Haram gunmen fled in the heat of the shootout, and abandoned their vehicles and cache of arms.