MAIDUGURI — Barely 24 hours after a suicide bomb attack at
Maiduguri abattoir that claimed 25 lives, another Improvised Explosive Device
(IED) exploded yesterday at a market on Baga road, Maiduguri killing 14 people
while 19 others were injured.
The explosive, according to an eyewitness, Audu Isa,
was planted at the entrance to the market opposite Ibrahim Taiwo Divisional
Police Station and exploded at about 5.14 pm as traders and customers were
rushing to beat the 7pm curfew.
Baga road is also a few metres from the headquarters
of the 7 Division, Nigerian Army.
According to Isa, “this blast was devastating and
shocking, as the explosion rocked Bolori, Ummarari, Jajeri, Federal
lowcost estates and Pompomari axis, sending smoke into the air for 15 minutes,
before the Nigerian Red Cross (NRC) and National Emergency Management Agency
(NEMA) rescue teams rushed to the scene to evacuate bodies and the injured
ones.
FILE PHOTO
“At the time the rescue teams reached the market, I
counted 11 dismembered bodies with some of the limbs ripped off.”
Hamidu Ibrahim, a member of the Civilian Joint
Task Force (CJTF) that had been patrolling the Baga-Bolori-Pompomari axis of
Maiduguri metropolis also said: “This explosive was hidden in a black polythene
bag and planted in one of the entrances to the market and park before the
suspected bomber detonated it at about 5pm.
He said the rescue teams of NRC and NEMA evacuated 11
bodies with 19 injured persons to the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital
and State Specialist Hospital, Maiduguri.
He said some of the injured persons had burns on their
backs and faces, while others died before reaching hospital.
“Tuesday’s blast at the abattoir was, however,
different from the one that exploded at the Baga fish market and park, because
the detonator of the explosive was not sighted like the one of this
afternoon that killed 11 people at the spot,” said the vigilante youth.
An official of NEMA also said that the agency’s rescue
team was able to evacuate 11 bodies to the hospital mortuary for
identification, while 19 injured were taken to hospitals for treatment.
“I cannot give you the exact number of casualties, but
certainly there are some injured ones that are in critical condition,” said
NEMA official.
Confirming the incident yesterday, the Borno State
Police Command said that unidentified number of people were killed in the
market blast. A police source also said that it was difficult to give the
number of casualties at press time due to the rainstorm that came after the
blast.
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