The armed men numbering about 30 were said to have divided themselves into three groups and attacked private homes, four commercial banks- Keystone, Access, Unity and First Bank, the Daura Motel, and two police stations.
Daura, which has an ancient and famous history, is the hometown of former military head of state and Congress for Progressive Change, CPC, presidential aspirant, General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd.).
According to residents of the ancient town, the attackers operated without fear, using Improvised Explosive Devices, IEDs, on the commercial banks. They broke into the banks and carted away undisclosed amounts of money.
One of the police stations was completely destroyed while the other was partially burnt down. About three people were said to have lost their lives during the operation. Witnesses said the attackers freed detainees at the two police stations and prison facility at the council area before throwing the IEDs that wrecked havoc on the stations.
The attackers, who came in several vehicles, including three Hilux vans, were said to have begun their operation at about 10pm with the onslaught lasting up to four hours.
A resident of the town identified as Kabir Nasiru said the attackers bought bottled water and soft drinks at a shop belonging to a relation of his, before commencing their operation.
Nasiru said many residents of the town could not sleep throughout Thursday and the early hours of Friday as the sound of explosions and gunshot rocked their surroundings. “We could hardly sleep even hours after they had completed their operation.
It was a traumatic experience listening to the explosions and gunshots,” he said. Saturday Mirror learnt that the policemen at the affected stations and commercial banks fled the scene when the superior firepower of the attackers overwhelmed them.
Sources said police and military men were dispatched from the state capital and other council areas, but this did little to keep the attackers from carrying out their operation. An eyewitness who declined to be named said the attackers first invaded a military base in the area and killed three people there.
They then attacked the two police stations; the Sabon Gari and Central police stations, where they killed four policemen and destroyed two police vehicles with IEDs. According to the eyewitness, two of the policemen that were killed were posted to Daura from Sokoto State about two weeks ago, while several policemen fled as soon as the attacks began.
The eyewitness affirmed that as at yesterday morning, he saw the bodies of the policemen being moved in a vehicle to be deposited at the Katsina General Hospital while those of the dead military men were moved out of the town to another location.
Katsina State Commissioner of Police, Abdullahi Magaji confirmed the attack but said he was unaware of the deaths of military and police men. Magaji said police got intelligence reports that the attackers had moved away from Daura town and were trying to pass through neighbouring Dutsi council area.
“We mobilised our men and pursued them while other security men readied to intercept them when they approached Dutsi,” he said. He said the police was able to overtake the attackers, and that an exchange of gunfire ensued, during which four of the attackers were killed.
The police commissioner said two of the armed men had been killed earlier in Daura town during exchange of fire, and that 10 guns, including seven AK47 rifles and a lot of ammunition were recovered in the process. An undisclosed amount of money and other valuables were also recovered.
Magaji said the attack was carried out by armed robbers and not Boko Haram members and that the surrounding shrubs in the area were being combed for some of the attackers that had managed to escape.
The police chief called on people in the area and Katsina State in general to always report strange movements or suspicious people in their surrounding as doing so would assist to nip such crimes in the bud.
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