UPDATE: Maiduguri Attacks: 17 Killed, 24 Injured — Police

Nigerian soldiers prepare to head off in search for Boko Haram militants outside Maiduguri in Borno State, northeast Nigeria on March 25, 2016

Police said 17 persons were killed and 24 people injured when Boko Haram insurgents staged a coordinated attack on Maiduguri, the Borno state capital, on Wednesday night.

PREMIUM TIMES report continues:

The Commissioner of Police, Damian Chukwu, told journalists at a press briefing at the state police headquarters, Maiduguri, that three Boko Haram suicide bombers were shot dead as security personnel battled to repel an invasion late Wednesday.

He said one of the attackers, who was also armed with explosives wrapped around his body, was arrested alive.

He said the police recovered 14 bodies and 24 injured victims from the scene of multiple bomb attacks in mosques around the Chad Basin Development Authority headquarters. The injured were being treated, he said.

“We had some incidents of act of terrorism by the BHT yesterday the 7th June 2016, which was a clearly indication that the terrorists who have suffered defeat and rendered incapable of carrying out their usual attacks had resorted to guerilla actions,” said Mr. Chukwu.

“Yesterday 17:55 hours some Boko Haram terrorist attacked at Alidawari village near Jiddari Polo area of Maiduguri, sporadically firing AA (anti-aircraft) rifles across Jiddari Polo and the Federal High Court. They set fire on some houses.

“Reacting to distress call we deployed our counter terrorism unit to engage them. And shortly after, the military moved, mobilized maximally and repelled the attack, after engaging in a gun duel that lasted for about an hour,” he said.

He said the fire service personnel were invited to put out the inferno on the torched house and fleeing residents were able to return to their homes after about two hours.

Mr. Chukwu said one of the attackers was captured alive and was in the custody of the Nigeria army, while “three terrorists including a suicide bomber were killed in action”.

He said several arms cache were recovered while some bombs were recovered and defused.

Earlier, one witness at the Teaching Hospital Maiduguri had informed PREMIUM TIMES that about 37 persons were taken to the hospital for treatment, while eight bodies were deposited at the mortuary.

Warning ignored

The attack on Jiddari Polo area started at about the time the majority Muslim residents were about to break their Ramadan fast.

Residents could not settle down for their meals as deafening sounds of shooting and bombs rented the air forcing dwellers of the suburbs at the outskirts of the town to flee into the city.

A witness, Yunusa Garba, told our correspondent on phone that his home was close to the major fighting point between soldiers and the insurgents.

“As I am talking to you, our neighborhood, which is not far away from the locations where the shooting was is filled with people that had to flee their communities as the Boko Haram arrived. They are all here, women aged men and children, all roaming the streets,” he said.

He said some of the dislodged residents in the villages had earlier in the day alerted some security officials about a large assemblage of Boko Haram gunmen at a village named Alidawari, not more than 5km from Maiduguri.

“A report was taken to the security about the Boko Haram gathering at about 3 p.m., but nothing was done to that effect,” he said.

“But it was about three hours later that we learnt that the gunmen had attacked some of the small villages and chased all residents away. Most of the displaced residents made it to Maiduguri on foot”.

The Borno governor, Kashim Shettima, later visited the displaced persons on Wednesday night.

The attack on Alidawari, would be the first major assault by Boko Haram on Maiduguri in a long time.

Boko Haram Kills 11 In NE Nigeria Attacks: Police

AFP reports that eleven people were killed when Boko Haram gunmen and suicide bombers launched a rare combined attack inside the strategic northeast Nigerian city of Maiduguri, police said on Thursday.

Borno state police commissioner Damian Chukwu said one civilian was killed as locals in the Jiddari Polo area of the city fled, while 10 were killed nearby in three separate suicide blasts.

Wednesday night's attacks took place on the eve of a visit by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, deputising for unwell President Muhammadu Buhari, to launch a major humanitarian aid programme.

The raid came barely a month after a senior Boko Haram commander threatened to attack the city after he was released from government custody in exchange for 82 kidnapped schoolgirls.

Outlying districts of Maiduguri, including the university campus and camps for people displaced by the eight-year insurgency, have been hit repeatedly by Boko Haram suicide bombers.

But armed fighters have not managed to get through the tight security for more than a year.

The raid will likely raise fresh fears about the extent of government and military claims that the Islamic State group affiliate is all but defeated.

Chukwu and the military both confirmed that troops responded to an attempt by the suspected insurgents to attack a village outside the city.

Fighters thought to be loyal to the group's embattled factional leader Abubakar Shekau stormed the Aridawari settlement, firing heavy weapons, including anti-aircraft guns, and burning down homes.

Residents said they then drove towards a military base through the Jiddari Polo area, firing guns and forcing locals to flee, before they headed towards the Giwa military barracks.

Chukwu said police and troops from the Nigerian Army 7th Division stationed in Maiduguri were deployed and "repelled the attack in a gun battle that lasted about an hour".

"A civilian whose identity is yet to be ascertained was killed in a stampede while a soldier was reported wounded. Normalcy has been restored," he said in a statement.

The police commissioner said the first of the three suicide bomb attacks happened in the Goni-Kachallari area of Maiduguri and targeted worshippers leaving a mosque.

"The suicide bomber and six others died, while 18 others were injured," he said.

"The second suicide bomber detonated within the premises of the Chad Basin Development Authority in Maiduguri at about 2120 hours (2020 GMT)," he added.

"The suicide bomber and three others died. The third suicide bomber detonated across the road outside the CBDA premises, killing himself and one other person."

Twenty-four people were injured in all three bombings, he said.

Hit-and-run raids were once a regular feature of Boko Haram's Islamist insurgency, which since 2009 has left at least 20,000 people dead and made more than 2.6 million others homeless.

On December 27, 2015, just days after Buhari said the group was "technically defeated", a raid and suicide bomb attack killed 22 in Jiddari Polo.

On March 14, 2014, Islamist fighters overran Giwa barracks and freed dozens of suspected insurgents held there.