A group of heavily armed Boko Haram gunmen launched a simultaneous assault on a police station and a commercial bank in Misau, Bauchi State. The attackers used a bomb and automatic rifles to storm the police station, killing five officers and freeing all detainees before setting the building ablaze. They then broke into a branch of Afribank, shooting a civilian guard or bystander, and stole an undisclosed amount of cash. The attack, which occurred at about 3 pm, caused widespread panic and injured several residents.
12 Sept 2011 · Misau, Misau, Bauchi
Deaths
7
Kidnapped
0
Total casualties
7
Perpetrators
Boko Haram
Response
The Inspector General of Police, Hafiz Ringim, ordered the Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID) in Abuja to conduct a full investigation into the attack. The Bauchi State Police Commissioner confirmed the incident. The attack prompted the Bauchi State Government to intensify the deployment of the “Operation Flush” joint security outfit to border towns and accelerated the implementation of 24‑hour security presence at all financial institutions across the state.
Displacement
0
Socioeconomic drivers
Undermining state authority, looting financial assets, spreading fear.
Trajectory
This attack demonstrated that Bauchi State remained a high-priority "secondary theater" for the group. While the military focused on Borno, these raids in Bauchi forced the state to spread its security assets thin across vast rural distances.
Cycle notes
The Misau attack directly echoed the 27 May 2011 attack in Damboa, Borno State and the 20 June 2011 attack in Kankara, Katsina State, both of which also targeted a police station and a bank. The tactic of bombing a police station to free detainees and then robbing a nearby bank became a signature Boko Haram funding model, used repeatedly throughout 2011 and 2012. The attack also prefigured the 25 August 2011 attack in Gombi, Adamawa State (two police stations and two banks) and the 2012‑2013 wave of bank robberies that helped finance the group‘s expansion. The IGP‘s order for an FCID investigation echoed earlier calls for inquiries after similar attacks, but the pattern of impunity continued.
Pattern
Coordinated multi‑target attack
Sources
- https://www.vanguardngr.com/2011/09/when-gunmen-invaded-and-unleashed-terror-in-bauchi-town/
- https://globalnews.ca/news/153442/gunmen-bomb-police-station-and-rob-bank-in-north-nigeria-attack-killing-5-people/#content
- https://www.nigeriaa2z.com/2011/09/13/gunmen-kill-5-policemen-free-detainees-in-bauchi/
Related — Targeted Killing
Two suspected Boko Haram militants on Sunday shot a 55‑year‑old Muslim cleric, Malam Dala, dead at his residence in Zinnari near London‑Ciki, Maiduguri, Borno State. According to eyewitnesses, the killers parked their Peugeot 505 car at a nearby farm and, around 11 a.m., walked to the cleric‘s house through the farm. One of them pulled out a rifle hidden under his gown and fired several shots at Dala’s chest and head. The two men then returned to their car and drove away. The cleric, who had received a written threat from the gunmen some months earlier, had reportedly taken the matter lightly.
In an event that fundamentally altered the trajectory of Islamism in Nigeria, Sheikh Ja'afar Mahmud Adam, the country’s most influential Salafi scholar, was assassinated while leading the early morning (Subh) prayers at the Indimi Mosque in Kano. Gunmen in Western attire entered the mosque and opened fire on the Sheikh at close range, killing him and a member of the congregation.
Two gunmen suspected to be members of Boko Haram opened fire on a group of Shia Muslim worshippers gathered outside the residence of a prominent Shiite cleric, Malam Mustapha Lawan Nasidi, in the NEPA Line area of Potiskum, Yobe State. The attack, which occurred at about 6:30 pm as the cleric was leading his followers in evening prayers, resulted in at least three fatalities and several injuries. According to residents, the assailants, who arrived in four cars, appeared to target the cleric but mistook his brother for him due to their resemblance. The deceased were identified as the cleric’s younger brother and his driver, among others. Witnesses initially reported two dead and five wounded, though official military sources stated one killed and four injured. The Vanguard newspaper, citing a nurse at a Potiskum hospital, confirmed two dead bodies and five wounded victims with gunshot wounds. A later report by the News Agency of Nigeria indicated that three people, including the brother and driver of the Shiite leader, were killed.