The Borno State Police Command on Saturday in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, confirmed the killing of 58 persons after multiple blasts in different locations of the town.
The Commissioner of Police Clement Adoda, who disclosed this to Continue reading BREAKING: Maiduguri Triple bomb blasts, Death toll rises to 58
It was yet another bloody weekend in Borno and Yobe states yesterday as Boko Haram struck in two towns, killing scores of people. Bodies littered streets of Maiduguri and Potiskum after yet another failed bid by the insurgents to overrun the Borno State capital and a suicide bombing at the home of a member of the House of Representatives, Hon. Sabo Garbu.
The insurgents, in a renewed attempt to capture Maiduguri, launched attacks from four points in the wee hours of yesterday that left about 100 people dead.
The attacks came a day after Chadian army killed 120 insurgents during a clash on Saturday in Cameroon. According to sources, the insurgents, who engaged troops in a fivehour gunfight, yet again lost their bid to overrun Maiduguri as they were repelled by soldiers, who were assisted by members of the local militia.
Yesterday’s attack on Maiduguri was the second attempt in a week by Boko Haram to seize the Borno State capital. It was gathered that the Boko Haram terrorists who came in from different locations were successfully repelled by the combined efforts of the military, Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) and Civilian JTF and with aerial support from the Nigerian Air Force.
The insurgents came in through Molai village on Maiduguri Damboa Road; Ngom village on Maiduguri-Ngala Road; Zabarmari village and Bama Road A member of the Civilian JTF who craved for anonymity, said corpses of the Boko Haram insurgents were seen littering the Maiduguri-Damboa Road.
THERE was fierce fighting, yesterday, between the Nigerian troops and Boko Haram insurgents in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital. About 80 insurgents were killed, while several others escaped with bullet wounds.
The latest attack came barely a week after the insurgents tried to take over the state capital from the Damaturu-Jimtilo axis but were repelled by soldiers who deployed massive artillery and fighter jets to dislodge them.
The insurgents were stopped from taking over the city by youths otherwise known as the Civilian JTF, and other residents who risked their lives by coming out in large numbers to assist troops in repelling the invaders.
Meantime, a suicide bomber blew himself up outside the house of a legislator in Potiskum, Yobe State, yesterday, killing 10 people, security sources said.
The bomber walked up to the house of a member of the House of Representatives and PDP candidate for the same position in the forthcoming elections, Sabo Garbu, before detonating the explosives. A bus stopped outside Garbu’s home and dropped off the attacker before speeding off, the sources further said.
Also,suspected suicide bombers who disguised as women were arrested in Yola, Adamawa State, last night. The incident happened barely few hours ahead of the presidential campaign visit to Yola by the APC flag bearer Major General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd) scheduled for today.
The suspects were nabbed by the military at the ever busy Mubi roundabout in the state capital.
This came as three soldiers and 123 Boko Haram terrorists were killed when the Islamist group attacked a Chadian army contingent in northern Cameroon, the Chadian military said.
Massive insugent’s casualties
The heavily-armed gunmen attacked the southern edge of Maiduguri at about 3 am, yesterday, setting off explosives as they tried to enter the city, several residents said.
They were, however, repelled by troops backed by vigilantes but they regrouped and tried to take the city from the Eastern end, where they again met stiff resistance.
As the gun battles raged, “the whole city (was) in fear,” said resident Adam Krenuwa.
Defence Spokesman, Chris Olukolade said the assault on the town, where the extremist group was founded more than a decade ago, was “contained” and that “the terrorists incurred massive casualties.
“The situation is calm as mop up operation in the affected area is ongoing,” agency reports quoted him as writing in a text message.
Despite waves of attacks in the city in recent months, Maiduguri has become a place of refuge for people forced to flee other areas in Borno that have been taken over by the terrorists.
The affected areas
The areas affected during yesterday’s attack were Molai village which is 10 kilometres south of Maiduguri; Ngom village and Mafa Local Government Area, about 30 kilometres north east of the city along the College of Agriculture and the Chad Basin Development Authority road in the metropolis.
The Molai attack started at about 7am when some insurgents armed with AK47 rifles, Rocket Propelled Launchers and Anti-Aircraft machine guns in a convoy of 15 Hilux vehicles and many motorcycles attempted to enter the city from Dalwa-Molai axis, a suburb of Maiduguri. Troops stationed along the Maiduguri-Damboa Road engaged them in heavy gun duel, and with quick reenforcement of troops and civilian JTF, most of the terrorists were killed while others escaped with gunshot wounds.
Most churches were hurriedly closed down during morning service while others could not even open as a result of the sounds of explosions and gunshots. A female member of the Deeper Life Church in Molai (names withheld) was hit by a stray bullet while trying to escape from the scene of the attack.
The Information Officer of National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, Mr. Abdulkadir Ibrahim confirmed the multiple attacks on the city which has so far displaced many people from their homes, but insisted that he was yet to get details on number of casualties, promising to get back before press time.
Sources said during the first attack on Dalwa-Molai axis which is not far from the Giwa Military Barracks, more than 60 insurgents were killed. The terrorists were, however, quick in picking the dead bodies of their fallen members. Only 46 bodies of the terrorists were recovered. Troops and thousands of civilian JTF members pursued the fleeing and injured terrorists who ran back towards the Sambisa forest.
According to the sources, when the four-hour battle around Molai axis was about to subside, another group of insurgents attacked troops along the Mafa-Ngom-Maiduguri Road, but military and civilian JTF members succeeded in repelling the second attack, killing more than 30 of the insurgents.
The second attack around Mafa-Ngom area started at about 11am and lasted for two hours before airforce fighter jets with assistance from ground troops repelled the insurgents.
“Most residents of Molai, NNPC depot and Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Quarters along the troubled Maiduguri-Damboa Road, which was closed down for motorists since July last year, had to flee into the city for safety”, said Molai resident, Mallam Jubrila Usman.
ABUJA — About 100 more soldiers are to be court-martialled by the Nigerian military for a number of offences relating to the on-going fight against Boko Haram terrorists.
An online journal, Premium Times reported that its sources disclosed that 118 soldiers have been transported from Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, to face charges in Abuja, a week after 54 soldiers were sentenced to death for refusing to fight Boko Haram.
It is not clear when the troops will be arraigned before the court martial, the sources said. Unlike their colleagues who were convicted last Wednesday, the soldiers awaiting trial are not accused of mutiny.
Army spokesperson, Olajide Laleye, said he was unaware of the development.
Sources also said that the soldiers are accused of relatively minor charges including loss or misplacement of rifles during operations against Boko Haram.
The allegations follow repeated reports of troops fleeing Boko Haram fighters and abandoning their weapons for the militants in Borno and Adamawa States.
Boko Haram militants have flaunted arms they claimed were seized from government forces in several videos.
The 54 soldiers who were earlier sentenced to death belonged to the 111 Special Forces battalion attached to the 7 Division of the army in Maiduguri.
They are to die by firing squad, the military court ruled last week.
The soldiers were accused of disobeying a direct order from superior officers to take part in an operation aimed at dislodging Boko Haram terrorists from Delwa, Bulabulin and Damboa in Borno State.
The soldiers said they refused to take part in the operation because the Army did not provide them with the required combat and support equipment needed for such operations.
Our sources said the convicted soldiers have been moved to Lagos to await appeal, pardon or execution.
Also, in September, 12 soldiers were sentenced to death by firing squad for shooting at a car conveying their commanding officer, Ahmed Mohammed, a Major General.
The attack occurred May 14 at the army’s 7 Division, Maimalari Barracks in Maiduguri, headed at the time by Mohammed.
Others were also sentenced to life in jail for criminal conspiracy and attempt to commit murder.
The soldiers revolted after some of their colleagues were ambushed and killed by Boko Haram extremists, an attack they blamed their commander for
MAIDUGURI—Eight months after Boko Haram terrorists kidnapped 276 school girls from Government Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State, with more than 200 of them still in captivity, the terrorists have again abducted another 191 people including women, girls and boys from Gumsuri community near Chibok.
The terrorists also killed 32 people in an attack last Sunday.
According to an account by two local government officials and a witness, a convoy of gunmen stormed Gumsuri in Borno State on Sunday, throwing petrol bombs into buildings and leaving much of the village destroyed.
32 killed in Gumsuri
The officials, who put the death toll at 32, said the local government established the number of those abducted by contacting families, ward heads and clerics.
A vigilante leader based in the Borno State capital, Maiduguri, Usman Kakani, told AFP that fighters who were in Gumsuri during the attack provided a figure of 191 abducted, including women, girls and boys.
Gumsuri is about 70 kilometres south of Maiduguri and falls on the road that leads to Chibok. Details of the Gumsuri attack took four days to emerge because the mobile phone network in the region has completely collapsed and many roads are impassable.
Those who fled the village said it was too dangerous to head directly to Maiduguri. Instead, they travelled hundreds of kilometres in the opposite direction to connect with the main road that leads to the state capital.
Mukhtar Buba, a resident who fled to Maiduguri, also confirmed that women and children were taken. “After killing our youths, the insurgents have taken away our wives and daughters,” he said.
The military and police were not immediately available to comment.
Witnesses said the hostages were taken away in trucks towards the Sambisa Forest, a notorious rebel stronghold, where the Chibok girls were also reportedly taken before being divided into smaller groups.
Vigilantes defend Gumsuri
Vigilantes, who have the military’s backing, had defended Gumsuri against waves of previous insurgents’ attacks but were ultimately overpowered on Sunday, according to the council officials.
The military has reportedly left much of the front-line fighting to vigilantes and hunters who have inferior weapons and almost no training.
President Goodluck Jonathan, who is standing for re-election in February 14 polls, had pledged that the Chibok attack would mark the beginning of the end of terrorism in Nigeria, but violence has escalated since. His Senior Special Assistant on Pubic Affairs, Dr Doyin Okupe had last Monday cautioned the media against counting the days of the Chibok girls’ abduction.
The insurgents have carried out a series of abductions this year, boosting their supply of child fighters, and young women who have reportedly been used as sex slaves.
Boko Haram has not claimed responsibility for the Gumsuri attack, but multiple sources in the village blamed the extremists whose five-year uprising has killed more than 13,000 people and forced more than 1.5 million others from their homes.
The North East has been the epicentre of the conflict, but unrest has also spread into neighbouring Cameroon, where the military claimed to have killed 116 insurgents while repelling a Wednesday attack on an army base in the border town of Amchide.
The defence ministry in Cameroon’s capital, Yaounde, said Wednesday’s raid in the town of Amchide, near the border with Nigeria was carried out by several hundred Islamists who ambushed a column of military vehicles with explosives and simultaneously attacked the army base.
Cameroonian troops retaliated instantly, the ministry said, killing 116 insurgents while one soldier has been confirmed dead and another missing near the border with Nigeria on Wednesday, as reported by Reuters.
“The response of our forces was swift and appropriate. The attack was repulsed and the attackers neutralized,” defence ministry representative, Didier Badjeck, announced, cited by the news agency.
The country’s official reaffirmed the number of Boko Haram members killed and announced another attack that took place overnight. The number of victims currently remains unknown.
Nigeria has seen an upsurge in violence since April linked to the Islamist extremist group Boko Haram. The insurgency has left more than 13,000 dead and 1.5 million displaced people since 2009.
Timeline of killings since April
*April 14: 276 young girls were abducted from their school by Boko Haram gunmen in Chibok, a remote community of Borno State. Fifty-seven of the girls managed to flee, while 219 are still being held.
*April 14: At least 75 people died in a bomb blast in a packed bus station on the outskirts of Abuja — the deadliest attack yet in the city. Boko Haram claimed responsibility for it.
*May 5: Boko Haram gunmen razed the town of Gamboru Ngala in Borno State, killing at least 300 people.
*May 20: Twin car bombings in Jos, blamed on Boko Haram, killing at least 118.
*June 3: Heavily armed gunmen raided four northeastern villages in Borno State, with local leaders putting the death toll as high as 400-500.
*July 23: Two blasts rocked Kaduna city killing at least 42.
*August 24: Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau claimed he has made the town of Gwoza in Borno State part of an Islamic caliphate.
*October 18: Around 60 women and young girls were abducted around Chibok, according to witnesses. On October 25-26, 30 adolescents were kidnapped in the village of Mafa in Borno State.
*October 31: Shekau said the 219 abducted schoolgirls have been converted to Islam and married off, ruling out talks with the authorities on a ceasefire.
*November 9: Shekau said that he has created a caliphate in the more than 20 northeastern towns conquered by the insurgents.
*November 10: A suicide attack killed at least 58 people at a boys school in Potiskum in Yobe State.
*November 28: Two suicide bombers blew themselves up and gunmen opened fire during weekly prayers at the Kano Central Mosque. At least 120 people were killed and 270 others wounded.
*December 1: More than 150 people, including 44 police and security troops, died in a Boko Haram raid on Damaturu, Yobe State.
A female suicide bomber arrested by the vigilante group also known as civilian JTF has revealed that, 50 female suicide bombers has been released on Maiduguri, the Borno state capital with a target of 100,000 people before the end of December 2014.
This is even as a failed attempt to launch a fresh attacks in Konduga and Maiduguri were however repelled by military troops of the 7 Division in Konduga Local Government area of the state.
Konduga is south east and about 40 kilometres drive from Maiduguri, the state capital. Recently troops in the area with support from civilian JTF repelled insurgents killing over 200 which the military authorities claimed that the leader of the sect suspected to be imposter Abubakar Shekau was among those killed.
Two explosions ripped through a market in the city of Maiduguri on Monday, witnesses said, nearly a week after two female suicide bombers attacked the same area, killing more than 45 people.
“A middle-aged woman approached the site where chicken sellers attend to customers but vigilantes who stood nearby insisted on checking the luggage she was carrying,” said witness Ahmad Sanusi.
“The woman refused, arguing that what she held were her wares. While the argument ensued, some people gathered at the scene and that was when she detonated the explosive,” he told AFP.
The Monday Market was hit last Tuesday by two women who detonated explosives hidden under their hijabs. The same market was attacked on July 1 and at least 15 people died.
A police bomb squad on Friday defused a suspected remote-controlled improvised explosive device buried in the dirt near another market in Maiduguri.
Boko Haram militants were suspected and it was thought the bomb was intended to hit worshippers at a local mosque. Two suspected female suicide bombers were arrested in Maiduguri last week.
It was not immediately clear whether the woman in Monday’s incident was a suicide bomber or if she was merely carrying explosives hidden in her luggage.
But another witness, Goni Abba, reported a second explosion just seconds after the first. Nearby buildings were destroyed and there were reports of deaths and injuries, he added.
There was no immediate official confirmation of fatalities but the police, army and Red Cross were at the scene.
Another local resident who was in the area at the time said: “I was at the Borno state television station, which is just opposite the Monday Market, to see a friend.
“I heard an explosion and we were told that it happened at the market. I’m now in his office because it’s not safe to venture outside,” said the resident, who asked not to be identified.
The blasts happened as Boko Haram fighters launched a dawn raid on the capital of neighbouring Yobe state, Damaturu, apparently targeting the police.
The military alleges that Hafsat Usman Bako is a recruiting sergeant for Boko Haram
At least 67 people were killed and 98 others injured when two female suicide bombers hit a densely populated Monday market in Maiduguri, Borno State, on Tuesday morning.
More than30 shops and 25 vehicles were also destroyed in the incident.
One of the two teenage bombers detonated the explosive hidden in her flowing hijab, and this killed her and other three women standing nearby.
The incident, according to eyewitnesses, occurred at Baban Layi, a one-way area of Maiduguri’s main market at about 11:20am.
The Nation gathered that as sympathizers were milling around the blast scene, the second suicide bomber also blew off herself, killing over 30 people at the spot.
However, a third suicide bomber was caught and killed by an angry mob.
The bomber was apprehended and hacked to death before she could denote the bomb hidden in her hijab.
A trader, Ali Zanna Kumalia, told our correspondent that “at about 12noon while people were carrying out their normal business at the famous Monday market, two female suicide bombers detonated bombs that killed many traders and others along the one way linking the market from Ahmadu Bello Way. Several shops and vehicles including keke NAPEP were destroyed in the blast.
“And while people were picking the victims including women and children, another bomb went off few minutes later at a spot not too far away from the scene of the first blast. This also killed several people and damaged shops and vehicles. You need to see the ugly situation.
“It is so painful to see a human being doing this kind of thing to a fellow human being,” Kumalia stated.
The dead and injured victims were later evacuated to the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital and General Hospital.
Soldiers and other security agents who were deployed to the scene of the blast later came and started shooting into the air to disperse people who had trooped to the market to see what happened.
Female suicide attacks
A suicide bomber attacked a crowded market in northeast Nigeria’s city of Maiduguri on Tuesday, moments after a bombing rocked the same spot, witnesses said.
“People rushed to offer assistance to the victims (of the first blast) and moments later a second explosion went off,” said Laminu Habib, who was in the targeted Monday Market and whose account was supported by two other witnesses.
Second bomber was a woman, according to witness
More than 45 people died Tuesday in twin bombings in the northeast Nigerian city of Maiduguri, a local health worker and witnesses told AFP.
Health worker Dogara Shehu said he counted more than “45 people killed, some of them completely decapitated” in an account backed up by a witness, who declined to give his name.
A spokesman for Nigeria’s National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) confirmed that “many people have been killed” but did not have an official death toll.
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