Damaturu Bomb Blasts Update: Army Confirmed 50 Dead, Many Injured
Fatimah Abdullahi
Nigerian Army authority Friday afternoon confirmed that 50 people lost their lives in the two bomb explosions that rocked Damaturu, the Yobe State capital, in the morning.
Col. Sani Usman, Acting Director, Army Public Relations confirmed the figure in a statement.
According to him, 43 persons died in the first explosion which occurred at 7.40 am and seven others in the second explosion.
The statement stated further that several other people sustained different degrees of injuries from the two explosions.
Usman stated that the explosions occurred while the screening of intending worshippers for the early morning prayers was taking place at Layin Geange and ‘Phase 1′ in front of the former Yobe State Secretariat, in Damaturu.
A ten year old girl and an elderly woman were said to have carried out the two attacks at the Eid prayers in Damaturu.
The army statement, said the Chief of Army Staff, Maj. Gen Tukur Buratai, and the Yobe State Governor, Ibrahim Geidam, sympathised with the families of the victims of the unfortunate incidents. It also urged the citizens to be calm and vigilant
“The situation is under control. Both Yobe State Governor and the Chief of Army Staff sympathise with and urged the people to stay calm and be security conscious. “No amount of terrorist act would deter our resolve to stamp out terrorism and insurgency”, it stated.