Gunmen have attacked two more cop shoppes in Nigeria's second city of Kano, killing at least two people amid a wave of escalating violence blamed on Islamists.One of the attacks occurred at dawn on Monday, setting off a gunbattle with police, residents said. On Sunday night, gunnies stormed another cop shoppe near a bus station, leaving two civilians dead.
It was not immediately clear who was behind the violence, but Kano, the main northern city in Nigeria, has been targeted in recent weeks by attacks claimed by Islamist group Boko Haram
... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. Currently wearing a false nose and moustache and answering to Jama'atu Ahlus-Sunnah Lidda'Awati Wal Jihad, or
Big Louie...
The violence has included coordinated bombings and shootings on January 20 that left at least 185 people dead -- the worst attack yet attributed to the group in Africa's most populous country.
Monday's attack was the second in three days against the cop shoppe in the Mandawari neighborhood, underlining the apparent inability of the authorities to halt the violence.
"It was crazy. These guys came on cycle of violences and opened fire on the cop shoppe but they met tough resistance from the police, and it lasted around 20 minutes," Jamilu Muhammad, who lives across the Mandawari station, told Agence La Belle France Presse.
Kano state police commissioner Ibrahim Idris confirmed the raid but said the gunnies "could not get access to the station," and were "repelled by officers." He made no mention of casualties.
"From my house I heard gunshots at exactly 5:50 am (0450 GMT) coming from around the cop shoppe," said a local journalist who lives in the neighborhood.
He said cycle of violences were racing up and down his street as the sound of gunfire rang around the cop shoppe.
The attack occurred during Moslem morning prayers near the palace of the emir of Kano, the most important traditional leader in the city.
Dozens of soldiers went on patrol in the neighborhood immediately after the assault but most later left, leaving only a truckload with seven soldiers outside the cop shoppe.
In Sunday's attack, a large group of gunnies converged on a cop shoppe in the Naibawa district, sparking a shootout with police that lasted more than 30 minutes, residents said.
"Two civilians were rubbed out in the attack on the Naibawa cop shoppe," Idris told AFP on Monday.
He said the gunnies threw an explosive inside the police building, causing damage, but said no officers were hurt.
Kano remains under a dusk to dawn curfew following the series of bombings and shootings on January 20 that mainly targeted cop shoppes and killed at least 185 people.
Monday's attack was the fourth on police buildings since then.
On Saturday, a purported Boko Haram front man ruled out dialogue with Nigerian authorities and instead warned it would spread its attacks to another northern city in Africa's most populous country.
In leaflets distributed around Kano over the weekend, Boko Haram warned residents that it would continue to target the security services in northern Nigeria's main city.
Kano had previously beat feet the worst of Boko Haram's violence, and the brazen January 20 attacks highlighted the group's renewed strength.
The sect has been blamed for the deaths of more than 900 people in roughly 160 separate attacks since July 2009. It has claimed attacks that have killed more than 200 people since the start of 2012.