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10-year-old girl bombs Maiduguri market, kills 20
Twenty persons, including a female suicide bomber were
killed in a major market in Maiduguri, the capital of the
troubled Borno State following an attack by the Boko Haram
sect on Saturday
The female bomber was reportedly a 10-year-old girl. The
incident also left 18 persons injured, the Police Public
Relations officer of the Borno State Police Command,
Gideon Jubrin, has confirmed.
He said the incident occurred at about 12:30pm at a section
of the market.
Also, the spokesman of the National Emergency
Management Authority, AbdulKadir Ibrahim, said workers
from the agency were at the market to help those injured in
the blast.
The attack was at the Yen-Kaji area of the market where
chickens are sold. The section was immediately cordoned off
by the military as tension rose in the troubled town.
Red Cross officials were seen conveying injured persons to
the hospital.
Meanwhile, scores of people were killed in Damaturu, the
capital of Yobe State late Friday night as members of the
sect attacked the town.
The Executive Director of Stefanos Foundation, Mr. Mark
Lipdo, quoting military sources in the state, said the
militants launched an attack on the city around 8 pm.
The attack came few hours after military authorities said
they had launched a war to take over Baga from the
militants.
Amnesty International had said the attack on Baga by the
sect remained the deadliest in the history of Boko Haram’s
over five-year reign of terror in the North-East as no fewer
than 2,000 people were feared killed in the incident.
The attack on Damaturu also came on the heels of a similar
attack on Gwoza in Borno State the day before. Boko Haram
was reported to have pulled down houses of the minority
ethnic and religious people and Church buildings in Gwoza
Local Government Area. They were said to have also
succeeded in pulling down COCIN Church building and other
places of worship around the area.
In a related development, two persons were on Saturday
killed in a bomb blast at the Polistum Divisional Police
Station in Yobe State.
Meanwhile, no fewer than 200 Boko Haram members were
killed by troops at Askira Uba, a border town between
Adamawa and Borno states on Saturday.
The insurgents, it was gathered, were trying to penetrate
Damaturu, Adamawa State, through the town but were killed
by the troops who were stationed in the area during a gun
battle.
The terrorists had earlier attempted to storm Damaturu on
Friday, but were repelled by the military, during an
operation that lasted for several hours.
Our correspondent further learnt that the community
leaders in the area have enlisted the help of local hunters
and vigilance groups to assist the military to counter attacks
by the terrorists.
The Director, Defence Information, Maj.Gen. Chris
Olukolade could not be reached for comments on Saturday.
Also, the United Nations refugee agency has stated that
7,300 Nigerian refugees have arrived in western Chad in the
past 10 days, fleeing attacks by insurgents on Baga town and
surrounding villages.
The UN spokesperson, Adrian Edwards, said the agency’s
teams in Chad were at the border and seeking more
information on the new arrivals and their needs.