• Police confirm attack
Michael Olugbode in Maiduguri
Two suicide bomb attacks on Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, were foiled by security operatives before the break of dawn.
Confirming the incident in Maiduguri, the spokesman of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) at the North-east Zonal Office, Mallam AbdulKadir Ibrahim, in a message said: “Two foiled suicide bomb attacks on Maiduguri. The incidents occurred at Usmanti and Kaleri area of Mafa Local Government Area of the state.
“The first attack occurred around five minutes to 12a.m on Tuesday, the suicide bomber was targeting a security outpost in the area but was noticed by the security who shot him and he got blown off.”
He said: “No casualty was involved except the male suicide bomber.”
In the second incident, Ibrahim said: “While the second one occurred yesterday during morning prayer 5:30a.m. This involved two suicide bombers one female and male, they were trying to enter a mosque while prayer was on.
“But they were spotted on time by Civilian JTF situated there. While they were being accosted, they blew the IED which killed one Civilian JTF and two suicide bombers and injuring two other people.”
The state Commissioner of Police, Damien Chukwu, confirmed that three suicide bombers were unleashed on Maiduguri by the Boko Haram in an overnight attack on the troubled town, which is the birthplace of the terrorist group.
Chukwu said the first attack was at midnight when a male suicide bomber who attempted to cause mayhem was foiled by the military in Usmanti, an outskirt of Maiduguri
He said the suicide bomber tried to sneak into the town but was picked out by the military who neutralised him.
He added that the bomb strapped on him detonated moments later.
“Early yesterday morning at about 5:30, he said two female suicide bombers attempted gaining entrance into Kaleri but were stopped at a checkpoints.
They defied the order and scale the paraphrase, but one of the two was shot with the other one escaping into the community where she detonated the explosive strapped on her.”
Chukwu said the escaped female suicide bomber claimed a casualty alongside her and caused injuries on two other persons.
Meanwhile, Chukwu also confirmed that a whole village was razed by Boko Haram in a Monday attack on Borno.
The commissioner while addressing a press conference in Maiduguri, said the insurgents on Monday evening attacked Dzaku village in Askira/Uba Local Government Area of the state, unleashing terror on the village, razing it completely.
He said: “The intelligence report we received showed that the insurgents killed three people and razed down the entire village.
“The hoodlums equally abducted seven women in the attack we gathered.”
Chukwu who said the military was presently at the village to assess the situation and combed through he area for the insurgents, disclosed that the casualty was minimal because many residents had already fled the village before the insurgents came down strong on it.
The residents of the village had told THISDAY on Tuesday that the insurgents killed eight persons and abducted several women and children, equally carting away foodstuffs.
One of the indigenes of the village, Amos Ali, who resides in Maiduguri had said on Tuesday that some of his relatives that fled to seek refuge with him, said, “some terrorists who came into Dzaku in two Hilux Toyota vehicles armed with AK47 rifles and petrol bombs wrecked havoc without confrontation.”
Ali who said one of his sisters was among those abducted by the attackers, lamented that “because of lack of telecommunications service, we later received a distress call from our community on Tuesday that Boko Haram terrorists attacked our people and killed eight before abducting several others including my sister.”
He added that: “We are much worried especially now that the military said, it has eliminated terrorists from the region.”
Askira Uba is in Southern Borno senatorial district and about 180 kilometres drive from Maiduguri, the state capital that is believed to be the birthplace of Boko Haram and had witnessed series of deadly attacks from the sect in the last six year.
