In January 2010, the group struck again in Borno State, killing four people in Maiduguri metropolis. In September of that year, Boko Haram Islamists freed over 700 inmates from a prison in Bauchi State and torched the prison.

By December 2010, the Boko Haram extremists had visibly graduated to the use of deadly bombs in Maiduguri, as they were blamed for a market bombing, following which 92 of its members were arrested by the police.

An ANPP chieftain was killed barely four hours after some unknown assassins shot and wounded one sergeant Isa Omale and a corporal of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps both attached to the Speaker, Borno State House of Assembly, Goni Ali Modu.

One of the most dastardly terrorist acts of the Boko Haram group came on January 28, 2011, when a gubernatorial candidate of the All Nigeria People’s Party, ANPP, Alhaji Modu Fannami Gubio, was assassinated along with Alhaji Goni Sheriff and four police officers.  Gubio was executed at his family residence in Maiduguri, after performing Friday Juma’at prayer.

There was a December 31, 2010, bomb blast in Abuja where many died, finger was pointed in the direction of Boko Haram.

The sect’s terrorist activities during the last election were equally disturbing. On  March 29, police “thwarted a plot to bomb an ANPP election rally” in Maiduguri, and on April 1, the day before the original date slated for Nigeria’s legislative elections, suspected members of the sect attacked a police station in Bauchi. On April 9, a polling centre in Maiduguri was bombed and on April 15, the Maiduguri office of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, was also bombed, and several people shot in separate incidents that same day.

On April 20, Boko Haram killed a Muslim cleric and ambushed several police officers in Maiduguri; two days later, the group freed 14 prisoners during a jailbreak in Yola, Adamawa State.   All these by a group created by the late Ustaz Yusuf.

A number of high profile killings in the state,  suspected to have been carried out by the sect members, but which people thought had political undertone, were those of former state chairman of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) Borno State chapter, who was until his death, the National Vice- Chairman, North-East of the party, Alhaji Awagana Ali Ngala.

 He was shot dead by unknown gunmen in his residence in Maiduguri last October 6.
Shortly after his burial, the remains of a brother of Governor Ali Sheriff, Alhaji Goni Sheriff Ngala, the former Chairman of Ngala Local Government,  who was also killed at the same place along side other six persons by the assailants were also committed to mother earth on that fateful Saturday.

Also killed were senior police officers, prison warders including the army who were executed during exchange of gun battle with the sect members.

 Not afew officers of some of the security agencies had been victims of several bomb blasts that rocked the state almost on weekly basis.

Scores of innocent people were also shot and killed by stray–bullets in some of the encounters between the sect members and the security agencies, a.k.a Operation Flush II in the streets of Maiduguri. Another deadly incident took place last Sunday when members of the sect and the Operation Flush II engaged themselves in Abbaganaram ward of the metropolis.

An attack took place on Tuesday, June 7, when 10 people including members of the Islamic sect were killed in twin bomb blasts that occurred in Maiduguri.

The bombs were believed to have been set off by the members of the sect at a Catholic Cathedral in the heart of Maiduguri. The church, St Patrick’s Catholic Church, was attacked twice by the sect within five days.

It was a lucky escape for Governor Kashim Shettima as the incident occurred  minutes after he passed the area.

Police sources told our reporter that the bombers stormed the church gate in a Honda car at  2.30 p.m. apparently to blow off the church but they were unlucky as one of the bombs exploded killing the three occupants and two passers-by.

According to Yunusa Adams, a cab driver, who almost ran into the blast, one of the bombers had succeeded in throwing the explosive into the church premises before another one exploded in their car.

“They threw the bomb into the church premises and the thing went off while another one exploded in the car simultaneously,” he said. 

At another location within the city, some gunmen suspected to be of Boko Haram laid siege to Gwange Police Stations with another explosion. Police sources said the men had exhibited some measure of courage at the station as they engaged the police in a gun battle after throwing an explosion into the station.

“They started shooting into the police station perhaps to destabilize us but we organized ourselves in a way and engaged them in a shoot out, killing three of them,” a police source said.

Two passers-by were hit by stray bullets during the encounter between the police and the Boko Haram men while 14 people were wounded.