Killed In Yobe State Eid Prayer Ground Bombing

A few hours after two suicide bombers triggered explosions in Damaturu, the capital of Yobe State, the Nigerian Army reacted to the incessant attacks by vowing the defeat of insurgent Islamist fighters in the country’s northeast zone.

Muslims had gathered at the ground on Friday morning to mark Eid-el-Fitr.

The source whose name cannot be mentioned, because she is not allowed to speak to the press, said some of the victims suffered injuries that may affect their physical forms permanently. “Perhaps, somebody from afar was trailing and monitoring their movements to see if they could make it into the prayer ground and when they probably saw that they would be checked they decided to detonate the bombs from a remote device”.

The explosions left over 45 people dead, and many injured, most of whom were shoppers for the Eid celebration.

The Army spokesman however assured the public that the relevant authorities had brought the situation under control.

Governor Ibrahim Geidam of Yobe, and Major General Tukur Buratai, the chief of army staff, sympathized with, and encouraged residents to be security conscious.

The Eid ground hit by the blast is located at an area called phase-one along Maiduguri Road.

No one has claimed responsibility for either bombing, but the region has been under constant attack by Boko Haram, an Islamist militant group based in northeast Nigeria that has killed more than 15,000 people in a six-year insurgency.

It said 11 people were killed, including the two female suicide bombers, not 50 as it earlier announced in a statement.

The first bomb was said to have exploded by 5:20pm, as customers were busy making last minuets Ramadan purchases.