Sallah: Three killed as explosions hit Maiduguri

                          
As Nigerians prepare to join other Muslims faithful across the world to celebrate the Eid-el filtr, three suspected Boko Haram suicide bombers in a black Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV)Jeep, yesterday, in Maiduguri, the Borno state capital, attacked and bombed some parts of the Joint Task Force (JTF) Headquarters in Pompomari ward of the metropolis, destroying part of the buildings of the military installations at about 1.20pm.

Two other blasts went off simultaneously at the State Security Services (SSS) headquarters by 1.30pm in Bulunkutu ward, wounding six other civilians near the El-Kanemi Theological College, Maiduguri and a soldier.

The three suicide bombers in the vehicle were also killed in yesterday’s multiple blasts, after the suspects failed to gain entry into the military installations in Pompomari ward.

One soldier was, however, severely wounded and was taken to the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital (UMTH) by the JTF.

However, the Bauchi State police command yesterday arrested one Gambo Mohammed and his alleged collaborator, Alhassan Mohammed for allegedly manufacturing illegal firearms.

State Police Commissioner, Ikechukwu Aduba, who made this known in an interview with newsmen  in his office yesterday in Bauchi  said the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, SARS, recovered some locally made guns, ammunition, fabricating implements, one oxygen gas cylinder, corrugated iron sheets for manufacturing firearms, three locally made berretta pistols with 27 rounds of live ammunition and 10 cartridges from the suspects. He later paraded the suspects along with three other armed robbery suspects at the police headquarters.

In Kaduna, unknown gun men yesterday disrupted a church service at the southern Kaduna village of Tabak, killing two persons and injuring several others, 14 of whom were admitted at St Louis Catholic Hospital in Zonkwa.

This is the sixth time some people have been killed in such attacks by yet to be identified gunmen since the post Presidential election violence led to the killing of over 850 persons in some Northern states including Kaduna.

In Bauchi, Aduba said, “SARS first arrested Alhassan Mohammed on suspicion of being a notorious firearms dealer resident in Bauchi township.  Upon his arrest, he voluntarily confessed to having sold numerous locally made pistols to some people at the cost of N60, 000 each.

’’His confession led the team of detectives to arrest Gambo Mohammed who also confessed to establishing and operating a functional illegal firearms enterprise, adding that he usually supplied Alhassan Mohammed these lethal weapons for financial gain.’’

On the activities of the Boko Haram militants in the state, the Police Commissioner however, urged the people not to panic, assuring that the command had spread its dragnet to tackle the group during the Eid el Kabir festival.

Saturday Vanguard learnt that Kaduna women and youths from the area who protested the alleged unprovoked attack reportedly held the state governor, Sir Patrick Yakowa hostage for over one hour and ‘’refused to listen to his appeals,’’ even as they ‘’denied him access to the victims,’’ although the government later denied that Yakowa was held hostage.

The gunmen were said to have invaded the St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, Tabak village in Zango Kataf Local Government around 11.45pm when the worshippers were observing a vigil inside the church through the internationally recognized cattle grazing route close to the village and immediately opened fire on the worshippers, killing two women instantly and leaving several others with various degrees of wounds.

Eye witness said that there were blood stains on the alter of the church, while bullets from the attack penetrated the iron doors, thus indicating that the attackers were armed with sophisticated weapons.

There were fears of reprisal attack as the people from Zango-Kataf area are already accusing Fulani herdsmen of carrying out the attack and vowed to attack Fulani men who came across them.

In Maiduguri, one blast went off outside a school where parents had arrived to pick up students. There was no immediate claim of responsibility but blame immediately fell on Boko Haram, which has staged targeted assassinations and bombings around Maiduguri, killing more than 24.

Borno state police commissioner Simeon Midenda said one blast detonated around noon outside the El-Kanemi Theological College where parents had gathered. Midenda said others had entered the college grounds to attend Friday prayers at a mosque located on its campus.

Witnesses said they saw ambulances carry away at least six wounded people from the site. A short time later, suicide bombers driving a black SUV attempted to enter a base for the military unit charged with protecting the city from Boko Haram fighters, military spokesman Lt. Col. Hassan Ifijeh Mohammed said.

The SUV couldn’t enter the gate and the explosives were detonated outside of the base, which damaged several buildings in the military’s compound, Mohammed said. The lieutenant colonel said only a few soldiers suffered “minor injuries” from the attack.

Mohammed said blasts occurred at three other places in Maiduguri besides the base, with no one being killed. Immediately after the attack, soldiers cordoned off one neighbourhood and began an aggressive search. Earlier this week, the military conducted house-to-house searches of some neighborhoods to collect weapons and round up suspected members of the sect.

Vanguard Nigeria