Suicide bomber kills six, injures 14 in Maiduguri

A suspected suicide bomber disguised as a lunatic, yesterday detonated a strapped Improvised Explosive Device (IED), killing six people at the gate of Musa Usman Secretariat complex, Maiduguri.

Fourteen people, including policemen and security guards, were also injured in the morning blast targeted at workers and visitors at the secretariat.

Modu Bukar, a wheelbarrow pusher said the bomber disguised as a mad man with bulging kaftan clothes; before he detonated the strapped explosive on him.

He said four civilians and two policemen were killed in the blast, while 14 others sustained injuries in the limbs with burns.The injured ones, according to officials of National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) were taken to the State Specialists Hospital for treatment, while the dead bodies, were deposited at the hospital morgue for identification, before removal for burial.

Soldiers and members of the Civilian JTF to prevent further attacks have since condoned off the Secretariat complex.The acting Director Army Public Relations (DAPR), Col Sani Usman said, the blast occurred yesterday afternoon at the Borno State Government Secretariat, when the policemen on duty, checking persons entering the busy secretariat, intercepted a male suicide bomber, who quickly detonated the Improvised Explosive Device (IED) strapped around his body, killing himself, the policeman who accosted him, severely injuring another policeman who later died and several other people.

Governor Kashim Shettima yesterday visited the blast scene along with the Chairman of Borno State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), Ahmed Satomi. A suicide bomber had on Wednesday killed himself in an attempt to enter a mosque in Maiduguri. Six people were injured, as several residents of the affected area were also affected in the failed mosque bomb blast.