7 dead, 10 injured, churches razed as soldiers, sect members clash in Borno

At least seven persons were feared killed when soldiers and members of an Islamic sect in Biu Local Government Area of Borno State clash yesterday.

Ten persons also sustained serious injuries during the incident while two churches belonging Living Faith Church and Wisdom Chapel were razed.

The mayhem reportedly started on Friday evening when some gunmen, believed to be members of Boko Haram shot dead one soldier attached to the Biu army unit at Tashar Gandu area of the town.
The deployment of some soldiers into the town to maintain law and order, last month, it was gathered, did not go down well with some people who confronted the soldiers which later led to the clash.

Mallam Kankaki Shani, the driver of the Deputy Speaker of the Borno State House of Assembly, Honourable Danlami Kubo was identified among those killed. Shani was said to have been hit by stray bullet on his way to Gombe State International Airport to convey his boss who had just returned from Saudi Arabia for this year’s lesser Hajj.

The Caretaker Chairman of the council, Alhaji Adamu Yusuf, who was in Abuja to attend the three days funeral prayer for the late Ambassador Saidu Pindar Biu, expressed worry over the incident and urged his people to lay down their arms assuring government would do everything possible to bring the situation under control.

He said he was just informed that the clash has left seven people dead and many seriously injured, stressing that his administration would offer medical assistance to the victims.

Confirming the incident to newsmen, the Joint Task Force spokesman in the state, Lt. Col. Hassan Mohammed, said, “Yes there was a clash between military and some youths in Biu following the shooting of one soldier by suspected members of the Boko Haram sect, where two civilians were killed including the driver of the Deputy Speaker to the Borno state House of Assembly, Hon. Danlami Kubo while three others sustained injuries”.

Hassan said that the situation has now being brought under control, and urged members of the public not to panic, but to go about their normal businesses, adding that security agencies are working round the clock to restore law and order in the troubled state.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2011/09/7-dead-10-injured-churches-razed-as-soldiers-sect-members-clash-in-borno/