Boko Haram insurgents, yesterday, attacked three Borno communities, killing over 20 persons. The three communities were Biu, Alkideow and Mbuta.
In Biu, the largest Borno town in the southern part of the state, about 187 kilometres south of Maiduguri, the state capital, an explosion occurred in a crowded market, reportedly killing 15 people with 21 others injured. Witnesses said the injured persons and corpses were being evacuated.
“A suicide bomber today (yesterday) launched an attack on innocent marketers on Biu plateau,” a resident of the town, Mwajim Ali Gana told Vanguard.
A member of the Biu Youth volunteer vigilante group, popularly called “Civilian JTF” involved in the rescue of the victims also told Vanguard on phone that a suspected member of the Boko Haram sect entered the vegetable section of the Market and detonated the Improvised Explosive Device (IED), killing several people at the market.
According to him, 15 bodies have been recovered while several other people with various degrees of injuries are currently receiving medical attention at the Biu General Hospital.
Yesterday’s suicide bomb attack was the first ever suicide mission in Biu town since the commencement of the Boko Haram insurgency. It was said to have been perpetrated by a female.
“The female suicide bomber sneaked into the market through the Third Gate of the Main market, when people were busy carrying out their business activities,” a security source in Biu told Vanguard.
Meanwhile, more than two dozens suspected members of Boko Haram gunmen in a convoy of motorcycles attacked Mbuta village in Mafa Local Government Area of Borno State, yesterday, killing nine people and burning down several houses and shops.
Mbuta village is 25 kilometres north-east of Maiduguri, the state capital.
“The insurgents riding motorcycles attacked Alkideow village near our village, Mbuta as early as 4.30am but failed in taking away their cows, after killing nine people, before proceeding to Mbuta village by 7.20am and torched several houses and shops. When the gunmen burst into my village, they started shooting sporadically at any person in sight. Our houses and shops were not spared, as they killed 11 of my people here, including two old women, who were burnt to death in their huts, before the early morning attack on us,” the village head, Mallam Zakari, told Vanguard in a telephone conversation yesterday.
“The bodies of the slain villagers littered the outskirts of Mbuta, as gunmen pursued them into the bush when they attempted to flee their houses. Two of my people escaped to Maiduguri with gunshot wounds, while other villagers who survived fled into the bush as the terrorists were still hunting for them, after they burnt down many of their houses,” he added.
The insurgents also attacked Alkideow, bombing a police station in the outskirt of Maiduguri.
[informarionng]
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