Another
bomb blast rocked the troubled Borno State capital of Maiduguri
late on Tuesday morning , leaving many dead and others wounded.
Prior
to the explosion at the popular Kasuwan Shanu (meat market), residents were
rudely woken up at 12:45am on Monday by gunshots that boomed in parts of the
city till 2pm.
No
official reason was given by the military authorities for the gunshots which
many of the residents feared were fired by advancing Boko Haram insurgents.
But
when business and other activities were peaking in the city , a bomb went off
in the meat market, sending cattle rustlers, butchers, their
customers and passersby scampering to safety.
Although
the News
Agency of Nigeria quoted
the state Commissioner of Police, Aderemi Opadokun, as saying that five people
died in the blast, Reuters reported 50.
Opadokun
said the suspect, “who was shouting “Sai Buhari,’’ danced close to an abattoir
in the market, before detonating the bomb strapped to his body when people had
gathered around him.
‘‘Five
people, including himself, died, while eight others sustained injuries,’’ he
said, adding that policemen were mobilised to the scene to evacuate
the corpses and convey the injured to the hospital.
But
Reuters quoted a witness as claiming that “as many as 50 people
were killed.’’
It
added that Lawal Kawu, a paramedic, said 31 charred bodies were
taken to a teaching hospital in Maiduguri.
Abubakar
Mohammed, a college student, also told the news agency that he had
to run away after the blast shook their school building.
A
member of the youth vigilante group, who spoke on condition of anonymity with
one of our correspondents, however said that the suspect dropped a bag under a
table in a stall with an excuse that he wanted to pick
up something somewhere.
He
added shortly after he left, the bomb he hid in the bag went off.
The
spokesman for the National Emergency Management Agency, North-East,
AbdulKadir Ibrahim, put the death toll at 17 while his Red Cross
counterpart in Borno State, Umar Sadiq, said 13.
“Our
men working to evacuate the dead corpses have revealed that no fewer than 17
persons were killed by the explosion, But I cannot give the number of those
injured, “ Ibrahim said.
He
explained that officials of NEMA and
humanitarian agencies were “still taking the injured to Umaru Shehu
General Hospital, Maiduguri.”
But
Sadiq said 24 were injured.
The
spokesman for the youth vigilante group, Jubrin Gunda,who shed light on the
Monday night gunshots, said, “just like a few days back, the insurgents tried
to invade the town via the same spot, Ajilari Cross, but they were repelled by
the military.
“The
insurgents who seem determined to invade Maiduguri were driven back by the
battle-ready soldiers.”
He
added,”As far as I am concerned, there was no casualty
as the militants were successfully repelled. There was exchange of gunfire too
but the insurgents quickly fled back when they saw that the military were on
the alert.”
There
were two bomb attacks on the city at the weekend that killed at least 30
people.
Meanwhile,
the nation’s service chiefs will in a few days work out the modalties for the
relocation of military’s Command Centre to Maiduguri as directed by
President Muhammadu Buhari in his inaugural speech on Friday.
The
Chief of Naval Staff, Vice- Admiral Usman Jibrin, disclosed this
after the first meeting the military chiefs held with Buhari at the Defence
House, Abuja on Tuesday.
“On
the relocation of the command centre, we are the ones to go back and work on
it. Soon it will be carried out, it is a presidential directive, it must be
carried out, and we must do that as quickly as possible,” he told journalists
who wanted to know the details of the meeting held behind closed doors.
Usman
said they used the opportunity of the meeting to give Buhari security briefing
of the country.
He
said they succeeded in giving the President insight into the security situation
in the country.
The
CNS explained that it was the desire of the service chiefs to
maintain the tempo with a view to sustaining the successes so far recorded
until insurgents were completely routed.
He
however appealed to all Nigerians to continue to support the military by
providing operatives with the needed intelligence.
The
information, he said, should include suspicious movements around them.
“You
know as we continue to put pressure on them in the Sambisa area, they will try
to run away from there and then create further problems, using improvised
explosive devices,” he said.
Reminded
that the terrorists were becoming more daring, he said,”Like I told you, we are
sustaining the tempo and the successes we have recorded so far. We want to
continue to maintain that and if there are any suggested solutions that require
amendments or alteration of what we’re doing, why not? Most especially the more
they give us the intelligence, the better.”
Others
who attended the meeting were the Chief of Defence
Staff, Alex Badeh; the Chief of Army Staff, Kenneth
Minimah; the Chief of Air Staff, Adesola Amosun; and the
Inspector-General of Police, Solomon Arase.
In
Motokun, Patigi Local Government Area of Kwara State, a clash
between the residents and Fulani herdsmen led to the death
of five people.
A
source told journalists in Ilorin on Tuesday that some people were
also wounded during the incident which was confirmed by the
LGA Chairman, Uthman Ndako.
Ndako
added that with the intervention of security operatives normalcy had returned
to the troubled community.
According
to him the council as well as the Patigi Emirate Council led by Etsu Patigi,
Ibrahim Umar, had peace meetings with leaders of the Fulani herdsmen and elders
of the community to forestall further hostilities.
He
said, “We have on standby, riot policemen now in Patigi. Our council is
peaceful now. Presently Patigi is calm; the neighbouring village is also calm.”
The
state Police Public Relations Officer, Okasanmi
Ajayi, “I cannot tell you the actual number of people that
died. People were also injured.
“But
the place is now calm and people are going about their normal businesses.
“We
are investigating to know the immediate and remote causes of the violence and
how to prevent future clashes.”
