Political Briefs
–
MANY people were killed as suicide bombers attacked Maiduguri, the Borno State capital on Thursday night, witnesses and security sources reported.
According to sources, multiple explosions echoed across the city at about 11 p.m. on Thursday, February 16, as three female suicide bombers detonated their explosive belts near Muna Garage, a popular bus station that has suffered many of such attacks in recent times.
The explosions reportedly killed two residents.
Several commercial vehicles that were in the queue for a trip to the border areas the next day were also razed in the explosion.
Ayuba Ibrahim, a businessman who witnessed the incident, told journalists that seven civilian-Joint Task Force, JTF, operatives were injured, while all the suicide bombers died.
“But most of the trucks that were loaded with goods for export to Chad and the border communities were destroyed and commodities worth millions of naira may have been destroyed,” Ibrahim said.
On their part, the Civilian-JTF operatives said few hours after the Muna explosions, soldiers at Muna Dalti, a location about one kilometre away from the first explosion, shot six suicide bombers who were attempting to sneak into town at about 2 a.m.
Some Boko Haram gunmen who were riding on motorcycles accompanied the six suicide bombers, they claimed. The Borno State police command confirmed the Muna Garage attack.
Victor Isukwu, a deputy superintendent of police and the spokesman for the Borno State Police command, said only one suicide bomber died in the attack.
Isukwu’s statement said: “Yesterday at about 2318hrs, a suicide bomber sneaked into the midst of 13 pickup trucks loaded with goods along Maiduguri/Mafa road, said to be awaiting departure to Gamboru Ngala early hours of today and detonated IEDs strapped on self.
“The resulting explosion razed down the parked vehicles beyond recognition. EOD/Police patrol team was promptly deployed to the scene to restore safety and normalcy.”
He also confirmed that soldiers had in the night spotted some persons on motorcycle and opened fire in their direction
— Feb 27, 2017 @ 01:00 GMT
|
Tags:
