15 Civilians killed, five soldiers injured in Maiduguri suicide bombings

 Two other suspected Boko Haram members, who were not been able to detonate their wired vehicles, were  shot dead by soldiers
Security sources in Maiduguri, the Borno state capital, Tuesday confirmed that at least 15 civilians died and five soldiers got injured after four daredevil suicide bombers ran their vehicles into soldiers at a major checkpoint along the Maiduguri-Biu highway.

The incident which occurred at Mulai village, along the Damboa-Maiduguri highway, at about 2p.m Tuesday, also left two of the soldiers dead and several other civilians seriously injured.

Two other suspected Boko Haram members, who were not been able to detonate their wired vehicles, were however shot dead by soldiers at the check post.

But a youth-vigilante operative, otherwise known as Civilian-JTF, told PREMIUM TIMES that even the two vehicles that rammed unto the parked vehicles of the military could have been stopped had the soldiers quickly acted on  their warning when they sighted the vehicles advancing at neck-break speed towards the checkpoint.

The Civilian-JTF,  who was not happy with the reaction of the soldiers towards the early warning they sent across to them as the cars advanced, said his team’s attention was attracted to the vehicles by their all flat tyres.

“It was their flat tyres that even attracted our attention when they drove past; and we began to shout to the soldiers to shoot at them, as they were all increasing their speed, but the soldiers did not respond on time; just like a movie, we all watched how they ran into the packed vehicles of the soldiers at the check post and they blew off. The other two could not get to their target before the soldiers eventually shot them dead”, said the Civilian-JTF member.

A senior security official, however told PREMIUM TIMES that “it was a bad incident today; we recorded the death of about 15 civilians, while five soldiers were seriously injured; and the two suicide bombers had died, while the other two who could not complete their wicked mission were also gunned down”,

Some persons conversant with the Saharan terrain explained that the suicide bombers drove with flat tyres perhaps to enable them drive through the sandy plains that characterised areas like Sambisa without getting stuck.

Sources at the General Hospital Maiduguri, otherwise known as State Specialist Hospital, said several corpses were brought to the hospital in the afternoon of Tuesday shortly after residents heard the blasts.


By: Premium Times