12 Killed In Adamawa State As Boko Haram Strikes Again

MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (AP) — A radical Muslim sect blamed for attacks across northeast Nigeria bombed a police station and robbed two banks Thursday, killing 12 people in an assault highlighting the group's escalating willingness to shed blood, authorities said.

The sect, known locally as Boko Haram, stormed into the city of Gobi in Adamawa state in broad daylight, first attacking the police precinct with bombs and raking the building with gunfire, police commissioner A.T. Shinaba said. The group killed four police officers and a soldier guarding the area, he said.

The sect members then shot their way into two local branches of First Bank PLC and United Bank for Africa PLC, killing seven bank employees before speeding away with an unknown amount of cash, Shinaba said. Four others suffered injuries in the attack.

"Our police station was attacked this morning by a gang of suspected Boko Haram gunmen in vehicles and motorbikes," the shaken police commissioner told journalists. We are "combing the bush for fleeing sect members."

Nigeria, home to 150 million people, suffers from a weak police force more focused on collecting bribes than law enforcement in the oil-rich nation. The force also has been unable to handle the rise of Boko Haram, which many believed had been dismantled after a security crackdown following a sect riot in 2009 left 700 people dead.

The group, whose name means "Western education is sacrilege" in the local Hausa language, seeks the implementation of strict Shariah Islamic law in the country. Nigeria is largely split between a Christian south and Muslim north, where 12 states already have a version of Shariah in place.

Boko Haram has been blamed for a rash of killings targeting security officers, local leaders and clerics in the area over the last year. It also has claimed responsibility for a bombing at the nation's police headquarters that killed two people in June.

This would be the first bank robbery attributed to the group, though sophisticated attacks on banks have been carried on banks in north Nigeria in recent weeks.

Uninterrupted Power Supply in his tenure- President Goodluck's goal.

President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday said his administration remains committed to the attainment of uninterrupted power supply in Nigeria before the end of its tenure in 2015.


Jonathan gave this assurance during an audience with members of the Board of the Niger Delta Power Holding Company led by Vice President Namadi Sambo.


The President maintained that the Federal Government was mindful of the importance of steady power supply for national development, and would therefore do everything possible to ensure stable power supply.


President Jonathan said: “We all know the importance of power. We look forward to a time when Nigerians can enjoy uninterrupted power supply from the beginning to the end of a year and we are working hard to ensure that, that objective is attained within the life-span of this administration”.


Jonathan urged members of the board and management of the Niger Delta Power Holding Company to ensure that the company, which was established to oversee the implementation of National Integrated Power Projects, NIPP, funded by the three-tiers of government, contributes very effectively to meeting the country’s power supply needs.


Vice President Sambo who chairs the board of the company assured President Jonathan that it will deliver all gas-fired NIPP power generating stations, as well as associated transmission projects on schedule to ensure that the Jonathan administration’s promise of steady power supply is fulfilled.
Sambo said: “We will work relentlessly to fulfill our mandate on time,” while thanking President Jonathan for receiving members of the board. The Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Governors of Benue, Delta and Ekiti states, as well as the Ministers of Power, Petroleum, and Justice were present at the meeting.

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