EXPLOSIONS ROCK HAFIZ RINGIM’S HOUSE

Unknown gunmen last night attacked the country residence of the immediate past Inspector General of Police, Alhaji Hafiz Ringim, with heavy explosives in Ringim town in Jigawa state.

The explosions, which started at 8:30pm, shortly after the Isha’i prayers, were heard all over the town, while sporadic exchange of gunfire ensued.

Eyewitnesses told Blueprint that several explosions were heard from the direction of  the IG’s residence.

The road leading to the house had been blocked by policemen ever since the 2011 attack on the Police Force headquarters in Abuja when Hafiz Ringim was the IGP.

One witness said as at the last count, about 40 explosions were heard, while most residents scampered to safety in their respective houses.

He said as at the time he was explaining to this reporter more explosions could still be heard.

Many traders left their shops unlocked as they ran for dear life.

According to another witness, the explosions were directed at both the residence of the former IG and the police station situated adjacent to the house as the policemen on guard duty in the area returned fire.

He said there was fear if pupils of a Qur’anic school which holds sessions in the mosque near the police station were trapped in the melee.

There are at least 200 pupils in that school, he said, and they usually come from different parts of the town to study between 7pm and 9pm every day.

There were speculations that a bank in the area, Jigawa Savings and Loans, might have been targeted.

It was also not clear if there were casualties from the attack.

A reliable source told Blueprint that the current trouble might have been linked to the influx of refugees from Bama and other towns of Borno state into Ringim last Wednesday.

The refugees claimed to have hailed from Ringim, he said.

The source said: “Soon after the prayers at the central mosque in Ringim last Friday, an announcement was made that Muslims were required to render assistance to the refugees that came from Bama and other Borno towns affected by the sectarian violence there.

“I immediately sensed that something was wrong, quickly picked my shoes and left the place. That announcement kept nagging me. It was only when these bomb blasts and gunshots started that I recalled that announcement.”

Our correspondent learnt that the Ringim local government council had met over the issue of the Borno refugees and mulled the option of assisting them or telling them to leave the town.

Our source was, however, unsure if the latter option was taken.

The source lamented that up till 11pm last night no security reinforcement had come to Ringim from Dutse, the state capital. “People are left on their own,” he said.

Hafiz Ringim was forced out of office on January 25, 2012 by President Goodluck Jonathan when he appeared incapable of curtailing the increasingly ferocious attacks by the Boko Haram sect.

It was under his tenure that the Police Force headquarters and later the United Nations’ office in Abuja were bombed.

It was reliably gathered last night that he has been living in Saudi Arabia since his removal.

A media report said he had applied for asylum in the United Kingdom, but was yet to receive a reply from the British authorities.

According to the report, his request is on the grounds that the Boko Haram may target his life once he returns to Nigeria.

He was alleged to have informed UK officials that he narrowly escaped death in the June 2011 attack on the Force Headquarters a few days after he had threatened to crush the militant Islamic sect.

Ringim allegedly told the British agency that on June 6, 2011, his deputy, Abubakar Ningi, was murdered alongside his police orderly and driver, an incident claimed by Boko Haram.

He was said to have also referred to the killings of former military chiefs, including the November 2012 murder of a civil war veteran, General Mamman Shuwa.

It was not clear who carried out last night’s attack.

The Commissioner of Police in Jigawa state, Mr. Theophilus Kayode, explained to Blueprint  last night that some gunmen had wanted to attack a bank in Ringim but, when they were repelled, decided to vent their anger on residents.

Source: Blueprint