*Says blast claims two lives
Deji Elumoye in Abuja
Chairman of the Senate committee on Army, Senator Ali Ndume, has called on the federal government to step up security surveillance around Gworza town in Borno state.
This, he said, is necessary in the wake of the bomb explosion that rocked a mosque in the town which claimed two lives according to reports reaching him.
Ndume, in a statement sent Sunday evening from Banjul, the Gambian capital where he is attending an international parliamentary conference, stressed the urgent need of the military authorities to step up security patrol of the area.
He also enjoined Gworza people to be more vigilant by cooperating with the military “and supply information to them, in order to forestall re-occurrence of the suicide attack”.
Ndume further called on the federal government “to strengthen the military by ensuring that the Chadian forces which were withdrawn recently are returned”.
According to him, it has become imperative for Nigerian Army to redeploy more soldiers to Maiduguri-Damaturu road which has been notorious for Boko Haram and kidnapping in the recent days saying “that road used to be safer and it is the only outlet linking Maiduguri to other states in the country”.
The ranking Senator stated that reports reaching him on the incident indicated that
two women on suicide mission detonated bombs early in the morning of Sunday in a mosque located in Bulabulum ward in Gworza town within Borno South, his senatorial district in Borno state.
His words: “According to the account of the Brigade commander in the area, the two women slipped into the mosque pretending to be there for early morning (Subuhi) prayer.
They detonated the bombs simultaneously living two people dead and 12 others severely injured, with the mosque fully razed to rubble. Because the people were alerted early enough, the casualty were however minimized.
“The Nigerian Army thereafter swung into action, condoning off the mosque and stepping up patrol of the area as well as mounting road blocks to search motorists to prevent further explosions”, Ndume further said.
