Nine killed in Borno bomb attack

At least nine travellers have been reported dead in an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) attack at a bus stop in Mairari village, Guzamala Local Government Area (LGA) of Borno State.

According to Daily Trust, Abdulkarim Lawan, the Speaker of the Borno State House of Assembly, provided details of the explosion.

The lawmaker said many other people were also injured in the Sunday incident and have been evacuated to the hospital.

“It is unfortunate that nine of my resilient constituents were killed by planted IEDs today while waiting to board vehicles at a local bus stop in Mairari village. May Allah grant their souls Aljanatul Firdaus,” he was quoted as saying.

Mr Lawan recalled that Mairari village was the only village in the Guzamala Local Government Area that was resettled twice with civil authority.

He said the village “has remained deserted again due to Boko Haram/ISWAP attacks.”

“As resilient people, most of them who are taking refuge in Monguno, Guzamala and Maiduguri usually visit Mairari community and engage in their farms,” Mr Lawan said.

“Unfortunately, some terrorists who have been monitoring their movement went and planted IEDs at their local bus stop, which exploded while waiting to join commercial vehicles back to their area of abode.”

The lawmaker, who described the attack as inhumane, urged the military to seize the local government area from the grip of the Boko Haram insurgents.

“I know that the newly deployed Theatre Commander of North East ‘Operation Hadin Kai’, Major General Abdulsalam Abubakar and his troops are doing well in the fight against Boko Haram/ISWAP. Let me reiterate my appeal for the military to take over the entire Guzamala Local Government Area, which has remained under Boko Haram territory, so as to restore civil authority.”

PREMIUM TIMES reports that Boko Haram and its breakaway faction, Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), have intensified attacks against civilians and military personnel.

Last month, the insurgents attacked more than five military bases and also planted IEDs on the Maiduguri-Dikwa-Gamboru road, targeting commuters.

However, the Nigerian military has been responding to the threats posed by these groups.

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On Friday, the army announced that it killed a wanted ISWAP commander, Abu Fatima, who had a N100 million bounty placed on his head.

Also, the National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu, recently disclosed that more than 13,000 insurgents were killed in the North-east in the last two years. He added that more 124,000 others have surrendered to the military.

Nevertheless, the terror groups continue to wage their war on citizens and the state.

PREMIUM TIMES reported that the terrorists killed at least 1,457 people in the North-east in two years of President Bola Tinubu’s leadership. More than 900 were also kidnapped in the region within the same period.