58 die after Boko Haram’s multiple blasts hit Maiduguri

THREE bombings, including one by a female suicide attacker, killed at least 58 people and wounded 139 others in northeast Nigeria on Saturday, in the latest violence blamed on Boko Haram.

Many children were among the dead in the explosions that hit two crowded markets and a busy bus station in Maiduguri, the region’s largest city and capital of the embattled Borno state.

The Nigerian Islamist militants have relentlessly attacked Maiduguri throughout their six-year uprising, which has cost more than 13,000 lives and security forces in the city have struggled to contain the bloodshed.

Nigeria has since last month claimed key victories over Boko Haram in an offensive being waged in cooperation with forces from neighbouring Cameroon, Chad and Niger.

Several towns and villages in the northeast previously captured by the insurgents have reportedly been taken back by government troops and experts have said that in response Boko Haram was likely to increase attacks on civilian targets in major cities.

– Markets, bus station attacked –

A woman with explosives strapped to her body blew herself up at roughly 11:20 am (1020 GMT) when she got out of a motorised rickshaw at Maiduguri’s Baga fish market, said the head of the fisherman’s union, Abubakar Gamandi, who was at the scene.

“The bomb was devastating because it occurred at a crowded area,” said Jamuna Jarmi, a grocery seller.

Boko Haram has deployed women and even girls as young as seven as human bombs in attacks across northern Nigeria in recent months, prompting global condemnation, including from other jihadist groups.

About an hour later another blast rocked the popular Monday Market, causing chaos as locals voiced anger at security forces who struggled to control the scene.

Just after 1:00 pm a third blast hit a used car lot which is attached to the busy Borno Express bus terminal.

There were indications that the second and thirds blasts were also carried out by suicide bombers but details were not immediately clear.

Borno’s police commissioner Clement Adoda gave a toll of 58 dead “for the three locations” and 139 wounded. 

“Normalcy has been restored,” he added, declining to give further details.  

Gamandi, who was supporting rescue workers at Maiduguri General Hospital, told AFP that “the dead include women and children” but said most of the victims were men.

Danlami Ajaokuta, a vigilante leader whose fighters have been working with military across the northeast, said the security forces had ordered the closure of all businesses in Maiduguri fearing the prospect of further attacks.

Borno State’s Justice Commissioner Kaka Shehu blamed Boko Haram for Saturday’s violence, describing it as a response to the defeats suffered by the insurgents in recent weeks.

“The terrorists are angry with the way they were sacked from towns and villages and are now venting their anger,” Shehu told AFP.

–  Elections looming –

Nigeria postponed its elections initially scheduled for February to March 28 after security chiefs said they needed more time to weaken Boko Haram.

While reported victories in the remote northeast may enable polling in areas previously controlled by the insurgents, rising unrest in Maiduguri is likely to raise fear as election day approaches.

Boko Haram’s leader Abubakar Shekau has vowed to disrupt the vote and widespread attacks, especially near polling stations, could prove disastrous.

Hundreds of thousands of people displaced by the conflict are living in Maiduguri, swelling the city’s population to well over two million.

Maiduguri residents have voiced overwhelming support for opposition leader and former military ruler Muhammadu Buhari, who is thought to be running neck-and-neck with President Goodluck Jonathan.

Buhari, a Muslim from the north of religiously divided Nigeria, is expected to poll well among those hit hardest by Boko Haram.

But Jonathan, a Christian from the southern oil producing Niger Delta region, is still seen as having considerable support in many areas and analysts have said the likely result is still to close to call.