•  Police foil terrorist attack on Sokoto community

A treasury staff at the Bauchi State Treasury Board attached to the office of the Head of Civil Service, Yakubu Sakwa, and his two sons have been killed in a lone auto crash.

The PUNCH learnt that they were killed in the crash that occurred on Saturday along the Azare-Sakwa road in Zaki Local Government Area of Bauchi State.

A source in Azare, who spoke to our correspondent on the telephone on the condition of anonymity, said that Sakwa and his two children died on the spot following the crash, which occurred in the afternoon.

He said that the deceased was driving with two of his children to his village, Sakwa, for a family engagement when the tyre of their car burst and the driver lost control, veered off the road and rammed into a big tree beside the road.

According to the source, the car was almost torn into two equal halves following the impact of the crash.

He said that the driver must have been on a high speed when the crash occurred considering the nature and impact of the crash.

The dead bodies, according to him, were buried on Saturday in line with Islamic injunction after a funeral prayer was held at Sakwa.

Those who attended the funeral prayer were the representative of the Bauchi State Head of Civil Service, two permanent secretaries, and three directors from the treasury office.

The Federal Roads Safety Corps, Bauchi State Sector Command, was yet to confirm the crash as of the time of filing the report.

Police foil terrorist attack on Sokoto community

Meanwhile, the Sokoto State Police Command on Sunday repelled a suspected terrorist attack on residents of Giremshi, a community within the Sokoto metropolis.

Mallam Haruna, a resident of the area who spoke with our correspondent, confirmed that the shootout between the suspected terrorist and the security agencies lasted for over two hours.

He said, “It was the exchange of gunshots between those people and the Nigerian police that woke most of the residents up in our area today.

“The whole incident started around a few minutes after 1 am and it lasted till about 4 a.m this morning when the security agents were able to send them away.”

He however commend the efforts of the Nigerian Police Force for their swift reaction saying, “If not for the security agents’ quick response, only God knows what would have happened to us here now” he added.

He said the mission of the suspected terrorists could not be ascertained but residents believe they might have been on a kidnapping mission in the area.

When contacted, the spokesman for the command, DSP Sanusi Abubakar, did not pick up his call as of the time of filling this report.

Recall that the Eastern senatorial part of the state has been witnessing a series of attacks in recent times and security agents, including the Nigerian Army from 8 Division, have been recording huge success against the attackers.

Credit: Punch