Boko Haram attacks northeast Nigerian city, town, 80 killed

Boko Haram killed at least 14 people on Christmas Day in the Kimba village.

About 20 people were killed and 90 wounded by a bomb explosion in a mosque in the northern Nigerian city of Maiduguri on Monday, the state emergency agency NEMA said.

The attackers included a woman suicide bomber, who managed to kill one other person while injuring 13 in a crowded area.

In another blast, two girls blew themselves up in Buraburin neighbourhood, killing several people, according to civil servant Yunusa Abdullahi.

The AP article noted that Maiduguri is a large refugee city, hosting close to 1 million of the 2.5 million people who have been internally displaced due to Boko Haram’s various attacks.

“Boko Haram has reverted to using improvised explosive devices…”

A statement issued by the Nigerian government said soldiers had arrested seven Boko Haram bomb experts on Sunday.

A police officer, who informed PREMIUM TIMES of the incident, said the victims had gathered to investigate if a bomb was truly abandoned in the mosque.

The governor, who commiserated with the government and people of Borno and Adamawa States, especially those who lost loved ones in the attacks, said: “In other countries of the world, the government would have taken responsibility for deceiving and misleading the people and apologised”. He also explained that many people got caught in the crossfire between Boko Haram fighters and government troops.

NIGERIA’s Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, must be held accountable for the latest Boko Haram attacks, a governor has said. “Boko Haram is still extremely unsafe, and it’s gaining resources, notoriety, credibility and successfully expanding its reach”, said Yan St-Pierre, terrorism analyst at Berlin-based Modern Security Consulting Group to AFP.

He said the female suicide bombers were between the age of 12 and 18 and tried to force themselves into Maiduguri with the intent to “cause mayhem, confusion and panic but were intercepted by the troops of Nigerian Army on patrol, but unfortunately three of the suicide bombers detonated their IEDs”.

The army stated there have been a number of attacks at 4 southwestern entry factors to the town.

Over 17,000 people have been killed in Boko Haram’s six-year quest to create an independent Islamic state in Nigeria.

The attack comes just days before Buhari’s self-imposed deadline to stamp out the group expires on Dec 31, and in the same week that he said Nigeria has “technically” defeated the jihadists.