At least 67 people were feared dead and about 98 others seriously
injured yesterday when two female suicide bombers hit a popular Monday
market along One-Way Road, Chalarams, Maiduguri, the Borno State
capital.
Over 30 shops and 25 vehicles were also destroyed.
The explosion, whose sound was heard across the metropolis, occurred at about 11:11am.
It went off at a place that has huge concentration of people buying and selling.
NigerianEye gathered that the bomb was concealed in a pickup tricycle, popularly known as
Jega.
"The blast happened at One-Way road that leads to Bulabulin, adjacent the Monday Market," trader Sabiu Aliyu said.
Unconfirmed report said one of the female suicide bombers was a mad
woman suspected to have been used by terrorists, leaving over 16 people
including the mad woman dead on the spot, while those who sustained
injuries were rushed to University of Maiduguri and the State
Specialists Hospital for treatment.
The incident which occurred at about 11am forced many traders, students
and residents to close. The explosion occurred at a time Governor Kashim
Shettima was having security meetings with security chiefs in the
state.
This is the second most deadly attacks along Chalarams Road at Monday
market. In 2011, some terrorists invaded the market road and killed over
10 traders.
Health worker, Dogara Shehu, said he counted more than “45 people
killed, some of them completely decapitated” in the Maiduguri blasts in
an account supported by another witness.
An official with National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) confirmed
that “many people have been killed” but did not have an official death
toll.
“What we have is a case of suicide bombings involving two females,” said
a senior security source in the city, who requested anonymity because
he is not authorised to speak to the media.
The source told AFP that the “first bomber stood by a motorised rickshaw
packed with goods in the bustling market and took a call on her mobile
phone. She then dropped it (the mobile phone) and at that moment she
blew herself up, so people thought the bomb was concealed in the
rickshaw.