Fifty persons were killed in two bomb explosions in Damaturu, the Yobe State capital on Friday.
A military source told one of our correspondents that 43 persons died in the first explosion which occurred at 7.40am and seven others in the second explosion, suspected to have been caused by Boko Haram insurgents.
Several other people were also said to have sustained various degrees of injuries from the explosions.
The source said the attacks were carried out by two female suicide bombers- an elderly woman and a ten-year-old girl- who were said to have detonated the explosive devices.
Also, residents confirmed that at least 50 persons were killed in the blasts.
The residents said the twin blasts occurred close to prayer grounds and at a time when Muslim faithful were gathering for the congregational prayer to mark the end of the holy month of Ramadan.
The incidents occurred at Layin Gwange and ‘Phase 1’, opposite the former state secretariat in Damaturu.
A resident, Musa Yusuf, who spoke to one of our correspondents on the telephone, said the explosions had heightened the level of apprehension in the city.
He said, “There is apprehension in Damaturu as I’m talking to you; we are celebrating Sallah in fear with this morning explosions.”
It will be recalled that a ban on vehicular movements was announced in the state before the end of the Ramadan to forestall any breach in security.
An aid worker, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said as of that time, his team had evacuated “ten corpses from Phase I area.”
He said the bomb was targeted at the praying ground in the area and that several persons who were injured had been taken to a general hospital.
The aid worker also said that some aid workers had been dispatched to assess the situation at the scene of the second explosion, which he said occurred on the outskirts of the town.
However, the acting Director, Army Public Relations, Colonel Sani Kukasheka Usman, in an official statement, said nine persons were killed in the attacks.
He said, “Four persons died in the first explosion and seven people (were) injured, while five people lost their lives in the second explosion and 11 wounded.”
Following the attack, the streets of Damaturu were deserted.
But the blasts did not affect Eid-el-Fitr prayers as hundreds of Muslim worshippers attended prayer grounds to thank Allah for the success of the Ramadan fast.
The Chief of Army Staff, Maj.-Gen. T. Y. Buratai, joined Governor Ibrahim Geidam Yobe State, some government officials and military personnel to pray at the state mosque and Islamic centre.
Buratai sympathised with the victims of the attacks and the people of the state, urging them to “stay calm and be security conscious.”
He said, “No amount of terrorist act would deter our resolve to stamp out terrorism and insurgency.”
In a related development, the Catholic Church in Borno State has said that Boko Haram has in the last one year bombed all the major bridges on four of the five highways linking Maiduguri with the rest of the country.
Lamenting that residents of the city were going through untold hardship and pain, the Social Communications Director of the Catholic Diocese of Maiduguri, Borno State, Rev. Fr. Gideon Obasogie, claimed that the insurgent group had also planted landmines on roads, killing several travellers continually.
He added that commuting along the Maiduguri-Damaturu highway had become deadly.
He said, “Our people are still being massacred daily. Travelling from one part of the diocese to another has become dangerous. Commuting along the Maiduguri-Damaturu highway was halted again for the fourth time in a week, as security operatives battle to prevent travellers from driving into an ambush by the bloodthirsty insurgents.”
Meanwhile, the Governor of Ogun State, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, has described Boko Haram as a shame to the nation.
He said this at the Muslims praying ground in Abeokuta, shortly after the Eid-el-Fitr prayer. Punch
