Churches, homes and the police headquarters in Gaidam, a small town in Yobe State, were set ablaze in a wave of night time gun and bomb attacks by Boko Haram, the police said yesterday.<\/span><\/p>\n Boko Haram (Western education is sin) has claimed responsibility for dozens of shootings and attacks with improvised explosive devices.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe Gaidam divisional police headquarters and a bank were bombed on Saturday evening by Boko Haram and fire was exchanged into the night between police and Boko Haram members,\u201d a police spokesman was quoted by Reuters as saying.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cFour policemen were killed, 20 wounded, eight churches and 20 market stalls as well as Geidam council secretariat are completely destroyed.\u201d \u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Gaidam is located less than 20km from Governor Ibrahim Gaidam\u2019s hometown, Bukarti.<\/span><\/p>\n An eyewitness told our reporter that the gunmen invaded Gaidam town at about quarter to 6pm, heavily armed. They asked scared residents, especially the youths, to join them to ensure a successful Jihad on the \u201cenemies of Islam\u201d promising that no innocent person would be harmed during the offensive that lasted three hours.<\/span><\/p>\n There are conflicting facts as to the number of casualties in the attack. Two people are also believed to have been killed.<\/span><\/p>\n Yobe State Secretary of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) Mr Peter Ogwuche said: \u201cI am able to gather from various church members that fled the town to Damaturu, the state capital, this morning (yesterday) that about five churches were destroyed, so far\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n Another eyewitness said no policeman was seen on the street throughout the period of the attack until around 9pm when some soldiers who were deployed from Damaturu later showed up in the town at the time the sect members had left.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n A young man, who pleaded for anonymity, said his mother\u2019s home and shop located opposite the Magistrate\u2019s Court, Geidam was among the shops burnt by the attackers. \u201cI place a call to my mum only to hear a man answering the call and warning me never to call that line again. That signalled to me that my mum might be in trouble. I later learnt that they managed to escape and by now they should be on their way out of the town\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n