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. Via.punch
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