Suspected Boko Haram Islamists Monday night attacked the Gamboru police station in Maiduguri, capital of Nigeria’s northern Borno state, injuring four policemen, the local media reported. It was the latest attack by the Islamists, who are believed to be behind a series of killings that have left 12 persons, mostly politicians and policemen, dead in the state.
In the latest attack, suspected Boko Haram members lobbed explosives at the police station before firing several shots at the police officers on duty.
The injured policemen are said to be receiving treatment at the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital.
In July 2009, the Boko Haram sect launched a series of attacks across several states in the predominantly-Muslim north, leaving about 800 dead and forcing the government to deploy troops to quell the attacks.
Last month, suspected members of the sect also attacked a prison in Bauchi state, and freed about 721 inmates, most of them members of the sect.
On Monday, Borno Governor Ali Modu Sherrif met with President Goodluck Jonathan in Abuja over the attacks, and there are indications that troops may be deployed again to counter the Islamists.