Scores Killed In Suicide Attacks On Park, Mosque

Boko Haram fighters © AFP

*Troops kill seven bombers, *‘Residents must be security conscious’

No fewer than 52 people have died and 124 injured in multiple explosions in beleaguered Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, hospital officials said yesterday. The insurgent group Boko Haram is believed to be behind the attacks. The morgues at the Umaru Shehu Specialist Hospital and the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital (UMTH) were flooded with bodies.

News Agency of Nigeria report continues:

It was gathered that of the 85 injured taken to the State Specialist Hospital, nine were referred to UMTH because of the higher degree burns and gunshot wounds they had.

The Chief Medical Director (CMD) of the State Specialist Hospital, Dr. Laraba Bello, and the CMD of the Umaru Shehu Specialist Hospital, Dr. Salisu Kwaya Bura, gave the death toll while briefing Governor Kashim Shettima who visited the hospitals to console the victims.

Dr. Bello said 32 bodies were deposited at the hospitals morgue, 85 injured people were admitted yesterday and nine patients were referred to UMTH for further treatment for burns and multiple fractures.

At the Umaru Shehu Hospital, Dr. Bura said 39 injured persons were brought in on Sunday. One expectant woman died early yesterday.

“We were able to discharge some of the injured persons, after being treated for minor burns and cuts. Right now, as I speak to you, Your Excellency, 15 are already admitted for the treatment of higher degree burns and gunshot wounds sustained in yesterday’s and today’s (Monday) multiple bomb blasts at Bakkassi, Sabon Gari and Jiddari-Polo wards of Maiduguri metropolis,” said Bura.

Sadiq Mohammed, a patient who survived the mosque attack at Jidari, said: “We are the only two survivors of Monday’s mosque blast which occurred at 6am. Three of my siblings and my father were killed and buried yesterday.”

He said: “The female suicide bomber that attacked us had the explosives strapped to her body while we were praying in the mosque located behind the CBN Quarters in Maiduguri.”

The General Officer Commanding 7 Division of the Nigerian Army, Maj-Gen. Lamidi Adeosun, yesterday told a news conference at the Media Centre of Operation Lafiya Dole that 26 residents died and 86 others injured in the Sunday and Monday multiple blasts.

He said the 14 female suicide bombers, who were between the ages of 12 and 18, attempted to enter Maiduguri with the intent to cause mayhem, confusion and panic.

He said three of the suicide bombers detonated their Improvised Explosive Device (IEDs) in their bodies, killing 25 persons and injuring 85 others.

He added that the terrorists intended to carry out massive and coordinated suicide missions through Asmari, Damboa checkpoint, Ali Dawari, Molai Kura, Baderi, Jumari villages on the outskirts of Maidugri.

Gen. Adeosun said: “Seven other suicide bombers were gunned down by our troops, three escaped and one was arrested.

“I believe this development has averted what would have been a major disaster if they had gained entrance into Maiduguri.

“One of the girls went to a nearby house and requested for water to perform ablution but instead prepared herself and came to a nearby mosque and blew herself off killing one person while 13 others sustained injuries,” he said.

Gen. Adeosun said that the insurgents recently ambushed Nigerian troops in Mairaria village on the Maiduguri-Monguno and Firgi road.

He said that 14 insurgents and four soldiers died in the ensuing gun battle.

He said that the capacity of the insurgents to carry out coordinated attacks had been degraded, adding that that was why they were now attacking soft targets and laying ambush for soldiers.

Gen. Adeosun appealed to the public to be vigilant and report any suspicious movement to the security agencies.

The three hospital authorities told Shettima that 52 people died and 124 were injured.

Shettima condemned the attacks. He said: “We will urge our people to be extra vigilant and to report all suspicious movements to the nearest military formations. Our head is bloody but remains unbowed. We believe that the worst is over and, God willing, we shall strive to give hope to the hopeless; and a cause for joy to the down trodden.

“That will not deter us; we will continue to preach for peace, dialogue, tolerance and understanding. But these lunatics, by the grace of God, their days are numbered. They can inflict pains on us certainly, but our spirit remains high.”

There were bodies on the premises of the state specialist hospitals when our reporter visited.  There was no space to keep them inside the morgue. Some residents were trying to identify their family members’ bodies for burial.

In Maiduguri, the insurgents, in one of the attacks, used rocket-propelled grenades and multiple suicide bombers, according to witnesses. It is believed that no fewer than 50 people were killed in the instance.

The attack in Magadali, Adamawa State, a town which was once occupied by the sect members, another twin suicide bombing killed about 30 people, witnesses also said.

Magadali is about 150 kilometers southeast of Maiduguri.

A witness, Danladi Buba, said two women detonated bombs at a market near a busy bus station at about 9 a.m.

Brigade Commander, 28 Task Force Brigade, Mubi, Brig.-Gen Victor Ezugwu, said two female suicide bombers detonated Improvised Explosive Device (IED) in Madagali village.

“Two female suicide bombers struck at a motor park in Madagali and detonated their devices and we lost some beloved country men,” he said.

The Brigade commander, who did not disclose the number of casualties, however said the situation had been brought under control and that security had been strengthened in the town.

He urged residents to be vigilant and security conscious.

Some eyewitnesses at the scene told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that several people died and others were injured

In Maiduguri, no fewer than 30 were killed and more than 90 injured in overnight blasts and shootouts, and another 20 died in a bombing outside a mosque at dawn yesterday.

National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) Northeast Coordinator Muhammed Kanar said there were multiple attacks at four southwestern entry points to the city.

He confirmed the assault on Jiddari Polo, an area on the outskirts of Maiduguri and told French News Agency AFP that 21 people had died and 91 were injured

In another blast, two girls blew themselves up in Buraburin neighborhood, killing many people, according to civil servant Yunusa Abdullahi.

“We are under siege,” Abdullahi said. “We don’t know how many of these bombs or these female suicide bombers were sneaked into Maiduguri last night.” He said some residents found undetonated bombs.

Militants firing indiscriminately from the back of three trucks attacked the outlying village of Dawari, soldiers engaged them, and as people were fleeing, a woman ran into the area yelling “Boko Haram, Boko Haram.” When people gathered, she detonated herself, according to village head Bulama Isa.

A rocket-propelled grenade then exploded, setting alight grass-thatched huts, and a second woman blew herself up, according to Isa. Among those killed was the village chief and 10 of his children, according to residents Ahmed Bala and Umar Ibrahim.

A soldier said the insurgents fired rocket-propelled grenades into four residential areas on the outskirts of the city. Soldiers fired back, and many civilians were caught in the crossfire, according to the soldier, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to journalists.

Three suicide bombers blew themselves up at a home near Bakassi Estate, killing 18 people Sunday evening, another soldier told The Associated Press.

The attack appeared to be a challenge to President Muhammadu Buhari’s declaration last week that Boko Haram had been “technically” defeated, capable of no more than suicide bombings on soft targets.

A spokesman, Col. Mustapha Anka, said during the attack on Dawari, which is on the outskirts of Maiduguri, the security forces had intervened and killed 10 suicide bombers.

Residents said the militants drove into the village on the back of the trucks and began firing indiscriminately

A nurse at Maiduguri Specialist Hospital said dozens of critically wounded, mainly children and women, may not survive. The nurse, who spoke on condition of anonymity because she is not authorized to speak to reporters, said the hospital was so overflowing with patients that some had to be cared for in the maternity ward. About 60 people had wounds from bullets and shrapnel from explosive devices, she said. Other wounded people had to be sent to other hospitals in the city.

Among them was a baby found dead, still tied to the back of her mother, who survived after being hit by shrapnel, the nurse said.

It was hard to do a body count because so many had been blown into pieces, she said, describing torsos and dismembered arms and legs.

”We all fled yesterday as our houses were on fire. This morning we came back, and while we were counting the people who had burned in the houses, another bomb exploded,” local resident Ibrahim Goni, who visited the blast scene, told Reuters.

‘How Magadali attacks occurred’

No fewer than 30 people died from the suicide bombings at Magadali, eyewitnesses told our reporter.

The attacks were carried out by two teenage female suicide bombers at Kasuwa Denye Kaya and Maiyanka.

The blast occurred around 9 am.  Brigadier General Vincent Ezeugo, the commander of the 28th Special Operations Task Force said the blast occurred at a crowded market in Madagali, but would not give the casualty figure saying the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) were yet to furnish the military with casualty figures.

But eye witnesses who spoke to our reporter from the area said over 30 people may have been killed in the blast, adding that several other persons sustained varying degrees of injuries as a result of the blast.

An eyewitness said one of the female suicide bombers detonated her explosives without hurting anybody. He explained that the casualty in the attacks was caused by the other female suicide bomber who detonated her explosives at a crowded park around Kasuwa Denye Kaya market.

Ahmed Fulo the Adamawa state coordinator of State Emergency Management Agency could not give the casualty figure.

The military said it had intensified condon-and-search operations in the Madagali area.

The member representing Madagali in the House of Assembly Hon. Emmanuel Tsamdu, called for more vigilance, saying many strange persons had entered the town.

He said the local JTF put the figure of dead at 17 with nine sustaining varying degrees of injuries and receiving treatment at Uba General Hospital.

“The society we belong is not security conscious otherwise, nobody reported when strangers came into town. I think that is the problem,” he said.