At least, six people were said to have been killed, and many injured, after multiple blasts rocked the city of Maiduguri, the Borno State capital on the eve of Eid.
The explosion that rocked the city of Maiduguri on the eve of Eid, comes just a day after the convoy of the Governor of the State, were allegedly attacked by suspected Boko Haram terrorists.
According to the Commissioner of Police in the state, Mohammed Ndatsu who confirmed the Eid attack said the incidents occurred at around Custom area, along Tashan Bama road, at about 05:47 on Thursday evening.
The commissioner said only a bomb specialist could explain what was used for the explosives. He added that the attack was carried out by insurgents.
The General Officer Commanding (GOC) 7 Division of the Nigerian Army, Brigadier General Khalifa Ibrahim, has visited the scenes of the blasts for an on the spot assessment.
While the explosives were not person-borne, the first reportedly landed at a shop in the commercial area, killing a furniture maker and his son.
Another explosive was also reported to have landed in a house at Gwange area while a child and a goat were killed. Two other people were struck in a blast at the third location, bringing the number of those killed to five. Officials of the Borno State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) have evacuated the bodies of the victims from the scenes of the blasts.
Over the years, members of the Boko Haram terrorist group and Islamic State’s West Africa Province – non-state actors – have carried out such attacks in the state, killing thousands of people in the process. Governor of the state, Babagana Zulum, on Wednesday, escaped an ambush by gunmen suspected to be Boko Haram members. One of the aides of the governor confirmed this to Daily Trust.
The aide said the governor’s convoy was attacked when he was returning from Baga where he had distributed food items to Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).