Bomb blasts kill at least 18 at a mosque in Borno
Adetokunbo Fakeye with agency report
Maiduguri – Twin bomb blasts have killed at least 18 people at a Borno State mosque crowded with people observing pre-dawn prayers Friday, a self-defence fighter at the scene said, reports AP.
According to the report, the fighter was among rescuers who evacuated bodies while troops cordoned off the zone. He spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.
It is the latest in a string of suicide bombings blamed on Boko Haram Islamic extremists who have indiscriminately killed Christians and Muslims they accuse of not following their radical version of Shariah law.
The fighter said there appeared to be only one suicide bomber though “we all heard two explosions” around 05:00 in a mosque in the Jiddari Polo area of Maiduguri, the biggest city in the northeast and the birthplace of Boko Haram.
PRNigeria, an agency that distributes press statements on behalf of Nigerian security and rescue agencies, said rescuers from the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) had so far evacuated six dead bodies from the scene of the attack.
The PRNigeria gathered that the incident occurred during the early Morning Subhi Prayer at a mosque behind Magistrate Court Polo Area in Maiduguri.
The agency said “the explosion was carried out by a suspected lone suicide bomber whose two accomplices escaped, when some vigilant members of the community accosted them on their suspicious movements”.
It quoted a senior health official as confirming that six bodies had been deposited in the mortuary, while about 17 other injured victims were being treated at the Specialist Hospital and the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital.
Boko Haram has pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group and wants to recreate an Islamic caliphate over a swath of West Africa that sprawls across Nigeria’s border into neighbouring Chad, Cameroon and Niger.
Suicide bombers in all four countries have killed hundreds in recent months. The 6-year-old uprising has left an estimated 20 000 people dead and forced 2.3 million from their homes.
A promised offensive by a multinational army of troops from Nigeria and its neighbours has been delayed for months without explanation.
Nigeria’s police chief warned this week that Boko Haram is building bombs in iPads, laptops and cellphones and leaving them for people to pick up.
Inspector General Solomon E. Arase issued the warning while announcing five suspects were arraigned on Thursday in Abuja High Court in connection with twin bombings in Nigeria’s capital that killed 15 people on October 2.
