The terrorist Boko Haram sect continued its reign of terror yesterday,
killing no fewer than 45 worshippers in separate suicide bombings in
two mosques in Maiduguri, Borno State and Yola, Adamawa State.
In Adamawa, 27 worshipers were killed and 96 injured around 2pm
during the launch of a new mosque in Jambutu, a suburb of Yola.
In Maiduguri, 18 worshipers were killed and about 20 others injured
when the suicide bomber attacked a mosque in Jiddari Polo area of the
troubled town around 5am.
Eyewitnesses said the Yola attack occurred shortly after the
commencement of Friday afternoon prayers.
They stated that the suicide bomber sneaked into the mosque and
detonated the bomb.
A member of the first aid group of Jama'atul Bid'a Wa Ikhamatus
Sunnah (JIBWIS) Mallam Yusuf Osama also confirmed that the suicide
bomber detonated his explosives shortly after the Friday prayers
commenced.
Osama added: “It was a gory scenario; many people were killed in the
blast and we are busy evacuating dead bodies and injured victims to
hospital. The suicide bomber wanted to get access to the main bowl of
the mosque so that he would cause massive havoc but before he
reached the building, the bomb was detonated. The decapitated head of
the suicide bomber was lying among the mangled bodies of the victims."
The Adamawa State coordinator of National Emergency Management
Agency (NEMA,) Alhaji Saad Bello said the injured victims of the attack
were receiving treatment at the Federal Medical Center (FMC) in Yola
The Public Relations Officer of FMC Yola, Mallam Adamu Dodo also
confirmed that several victims of the bomb blast had been evacuated to
the hospital for treatment.
He did not disclose the number of casualties but he said most of the
victims needed blood transfusion.
Dodo said the hospital ran out of blood and would need blood donors to
come forward.
He described the incident as barbaric and inhuman.
Another eyewitness in Jambutu alleged that soldiers drafted to the
scene opened fire on the crowd and killed about three people.
"When the first batch of soldiers came, they started beating people
with horse whips which caused uproar as the worshipers retaliated by
pelting the soldiers with stones,” alleged the witness.
Maiduguri attack…
A youth vigilante source, Modu Kyari told our correspondent on phone
that the attack on the mosque in Maiduguri was carried out by a lone
suicide bomber who mixed with the worshippers for the early morning
prayers at about 5:00 am.
Kyari said the youth vigilante and emergency workers quickly moved in
to evacuate the corpses and assist the injured to the hospital.
The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) in Maiduguri also
confirmed the attack.
The agency's spokesman in Northeast, AbdulKadir Ibrahim in a text
message to our correspondent said: "There was a bomb blast at a mosque
behind a magistrate court in Polo area in Maiduguri. The suicide bomber
detonated the bomb during the early morning Subh prayer, six people
were killed. Rescue officials have concluded search and rescue efforts
while the injured have been taken to hospitals within Maiduguri."
Following the suicide attack, residents of Jiddari are now living in fear.
They are afraid that the community may be attacked again.
A resident of the area, Solomon Emmanuel said the fear was because
they suspect that some suicide bombers are now living in the area.
Emmanuel said three strange boys believed to be suicide bombers were
seen on Thursday evening in the area before the blast.
He added: "When some youth in the area mobilised to get them arrested,
they fled and what we witnessed today (Friday) was the explosion at the
mosque believed to have been carried out by one of these boys.
"The other two suspects are still at large. There could be more attacks
and everyone is afraid here. The youth vigilantes are on red alert and
the people have been sensitised to keep watch over the area."
These attacks are coming on the heels of the warning by the Chief of
Army Staff (COAS), Lt-Gen. Tukur Buratai of an impending all-out war
against the terrorists in the North-east in a matter of days.
This upsurge in attacks is also coming despite assurances by the military
to annihilate the terrorists by December.
Over 1500 people have been killed by Boko Haram in the last five months
in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states.
On Thursday, it emerged that the military authorities had agreed to
bring back South African mercenaries to help tame the terrorists.
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