A cameraman with the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), Mallam Zakariya Isa, was shot dead by unknown gunmen at about 8.00p.m. on Saturday, at his residence in Bullumkuttu Ngomari.

The late Isa was said to have been approached by two youngmen wearing ‘kaftan’ who asked him for water to clean up for prayer when suddenly one of them removed an AK47 rifle and shot him in the head and chest and left him in the pool of his blood.

According to the residents of Ngomari, immediately they shot him, they left the area before men of the Joint Task Force on Operation Restore Order in Borno could arrive at the scene.

When Nigerian Tribune spoke to Colonel Victor Ebhalem, JTF’s field operation officer, on Sunday, he said that the JTF had no detail to give on the killing but suggested a call to the police.

However, on contacting the police commissioner, Mr Simeon Midenda, he said he was in Abuja and would get the detail on his return.

Meanwhile, the Borno State governor, Alhaji Kashim Shettima, has condemned the killing of Isa, even as the 41-year-old slain journalist was, on Sunday, buried amid emotional outburst in Maiduguri.

Shettima, who led a state government delegation to attend the funeral of the late journalist at his Bulumkutu-Ngomari ward residence, also condemned the wanton killing in his state, even as he said his government would take deliberate actions to give better protection to all working journalists in the state.

“It is saddening that in spite all efforts to return peace to our dear state, some groups of people are still bent on wreaking havocs by taking the lives of their fellow beings.

“No religion sanctions the killing of fellow human; Islam particularly does not preach the killing of fellow Muslims, Christians or any adherent of another faith.

“We know all these are being perpetrated by our fellow brothers, but we have the believe that God will assist us to bring this unfortunate disaster to an end,” he said.

The governor added that “I personally watched the late Zakari on the TV screen and I knew he was a hard working journalist who, through his official duty, had been able to promote the gospel of peace and cohession in our troubled state.

“Now he is gone and we will all miss him. We pray Allah to have mercy on his soul and give his family the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss.”

Zakariya, 41, was survived by his wife, a son and his aged father, to whom Governor Shettima presented a sum of N1 million.

In another development, an explosive on Sunday hit a pick up van of the JTF around 6.00 p.m at Zannari, a suburb on the London Ciki area of Maiduguri metropolis.

“We heard a thunderous sound and then we saw smoke billowing in the sky,” Salisu Abubakar, a trader in the area, told the Nigerian Tribune by phone.

He said the blast directly hit a patrol vehicle of the JTF, which was badly damaged.

Another witness, Babagana Dan Damasak, said no one could tell whether there were casualties or not.

At press time, it was not possible to speak to Colonel Victor Ebhaleme, the head of field operations of the JTF, because his line was switched off.

Meanwhile Three people, among whom was a police inspector, were killed on Sunday during an attack by unknown gunmen at Saminaka, Lere Local Government Area of Kaduna State.

The hoodlums were said to have attacked the police station in the town, killing the police officer.

They also attacked two commercial banks in the area, where they killed two other persons.

The gunmen, suspected to be armed robbers, were said to have started their operation around 3:30 a.m. on Sunday, shooting sporadically.

A security guard with one of the commercial banks was reportedly killed by in the attackers while some people were said to have sustained injury.

The spokesman of the Kaduna State police command, Aminu Lawan, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), confirmed the incident, saying, however, that he was not in a position to confirm the number of those killed in the incident.

“It was true, there was an attack. It happened but I cannot tell you the exact number of those killed in the incident. We are on top of the situation, investigation is on,” Lawan said, while reacting to the incident on phone.

He advised members of the public to be security conscious and report any suspicious movement in their locality to security agencies for prompt actions.

Meanwhile, THE Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) has described as a condemnable escalation of the Boko Haram crisis the reported killing of a journalist with Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) Maiduguri, Zakaria Isa, by gunmen said to be members of the sect.

‘’If it is true, as it had been widely reported, that Boko Haram killed Isa, then it is a clear indication that things are really getting out of hand as far as this Boko Haram crisis is concerned,’’ the party said in a statement issued, on Sunday, in Lagos by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed.

‘’Again, we call on the federal government to shake off its lethargy and act fast to find a solution to the crisis. With the government seemingly clueless as to how to tackle the crisis, we will like to reiterate our earlier call for the convening of a stakeholders’ conference to help find a solution,’’ it said.

The party also repeated its earlier statement that the use of force could not end the Boko Haram crisis, saying there must be an engagement of sorts and it must happen as soon as possible to prevent more innocent lives been lost to gun attacks and bombings.

Boko Haram kills journalist in Borno