Gunmen Set Man Ablaze in Maiduguri

360update

News,Nigeria

By Timothy Ola


                           

          

Two days after gunmen suspected to be Boko Haram struck in Potiskum, Yobe State, suspected members of the dreaded sect, yesterday set ablaze a middle-aged man in neighbouring Maiduguri, Borno State capital. The victim was said to have been burnt in his residence, owned by one Usman, and located around Polo area of the city. Narrating the incident, a resident in the area who preferred anonymity told Daily Sun:

“The attackers came at about 2am. Dogs were barking seriously when they arrived and everybody around the area woke up because of the way the dogs were barking. I think the attackers decided to force their ways into the compound through the gate since they could not scale the fence.

There fence had barb-wires on it. “Having sensed danger, the victim was said to have located an opening in the ceiling in one of the rooms and hid himself there. After several threats, and the family could not produce the man, the attackers evacuated the wife and children and set the house ablaze with the man, still hiding in the ceiling,” the eye witness claimed. Meanwhile, there have been conflicting claims over the fate that befell the victim, with some residents claiming that the man might have been a victim of a botched business transaction. “May be he had problem with somebody over issues of loans or business because he works with Nigeria Agriculture Insurance Company,”

JTF spokesman, Lt Col Sagir Musa confirmed the incident but did not give details. He however, promised to avail reporters of more information when arrests are made. On Monday this week, Potiskum, in neighbouring Yobe State literally came under fire with two houses, three schools, and 14 vehicles set ablaze by suspected Boko Haram arsonists. The coordinated attacks which were launched at 2 am time, the same hour the Maiduguri incident happened also claimed four lives, and the homes of the Customs Area Comptroller, Alhaji Yusuf Umar, and a member of the House of Representatives, which were set ablaze.