Nigeria: 25 killed, 120 inmates freed in attack on Ganye
A young herdsman leads cattle to a farm in northern Nigeria’s Kano state.
Nigerian officials said today that 120 inmates were freed from jail and 25 people were killed in an attack on the town of Ganye in Adamawa state on Friday night, the Associated Press reported.
According to state police spokesman Mohammed Ibrahim, gunmen attacked the prison, a police station, a tavern and a bank in the town, located on the border with Cameroon, Agence France-Presse reported. Ibrahim said the attackers looted the bank, then set it on fire.
"The gunmen chanted Allahu Akbar (God is great) before they launched the attack on the tavern,” witness Barnabas Haruna told AFP. “There were explosions and gunshots. I ducked under a table, crawled and fled the scene.”
According to the Nigeria Guardian:
The deadly operations, which started about 5pm, lasted over three hours with the deadly gang moving from one point to another killing and terrorizing people.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, but police said they suspect it was Boko Haram militants, BBC News reported.
A week ago, alleged members of Boko Haram released an unverified video in which they said they would not let a kidnapped French family go until all Boko Haram militants were freed from Nigerian and Cameroonian jails, the AP reported.
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