Gunmen have attacked a police station near Nigeria’s capital Abuja that holds members of the feared Islamic group ‘Boko Haram’, freeing prisoners and killing two police officers, officials said on Monday.
The shootings at the headquarters of the ‘Special Anti-Robbery Squad’ (SARS) came as the death toll for Sunday’s suicide car bombings near a Protestant church at a military base in Nigeria’s northern Kaduna state rose to 30, according to local hospital officials.
SARS, which was attacked early Monday, is the site where members of Boko Haram are usually held on their way to Abuja, police said.
Local media reported at least 30 detainees escaped, but that most were later recaptured. Police Commissioner Aderenle Shinaba said he would provide more details to media soon.
News that at least several fighters of Boko Haram, which means ‘Western education is a sin’, was expected to add to anxiety within especially Nigeria’s Christian community.
The group has been linked to numerous deadly church attacks, including 25th November suicide attacks.
Boko Haram wants to overthrow the government and aims to establish a strict Islamic state,
Since 2009 close to 3,000 people, including many Christians, have been killed in Boko Haram related violence, according to rights activists.
