No fewer than 30 persons were killed at a mosque near a crowded fish market in Maiduguri, Borno State, when two female suicide bombers in their teens detonated bombs yesterday afternoon, witnesses and security sources said.
Sources said one of the suicide bombers who was in her teens waited for traders to commence the late afternoon Muslim prayers before she detonated the explosives she was carrying on her body.
A 42 years old smoked fish vendor, Idi Idrissa, who saw what happened was emotionally broken when he spoke to LEADERSHIP reporter on phone from inside the market.
“Today we are visited with yet another terror”, he said in broken voice.
“It was a young lady that blew herself up near the mosque where traders were observing Asr (late afternoon) prayers. She had to wait until when the traders were deep in the prayer session before she detonated the bomb, killing a large number of persons and injuring many.
“Some traders said they saw the young girl loitering about shortly before the prayers”, he said.
Idrissa said the second female bomber was spotted running away from the direction of the market
, screaming on top of her voice before she later exploded some 500 meters away, killing only herself.“We heard the second explosion few minutes after, and it was another female teenager that was seen running before she blew herself up, near BEWAC complex along Baga road. Those that saw her said it was like she suddenly developed cold feet having heard the thunderous sound that came out of the bomb detonated by her mate. She was spotted remove and screaming then suddenly she exploded. But thank God no one except herself was killed”.
A Civilian-JTF, Samaila Abu, who had assisted in the evacuation of the corpses and injured ones said he counted about 30 dead bodies and several injured ones.
“You don’t expect few casualty figure when a bomb exploded inside a crowded market
area where people gathered at a spot to carry out congregational prayers”, said Abu. “We had evacuated about 30 corpses into the security truck that took them to the state specialists hospital. It was not a sight you would want to see twice”, he said.Abba Ibrahim, a security personnel at the Maiduguri Specialists Hospital, confirmed to our reporter
that that “about 30 corpses were brought, to the mortuary, while those that were injured were rushed to the Accident and Emergency ward by the Red Cross personnel”.