Saturday, October 24, 2015

Suicide bombers kill 33, injure 111 in Yola, Maiduguri attacks

ON a day that Boko Haram terrorists wreaked havoc in two separate bomb attacks in Yola and Maiduguri killing over 33 persons and injuring 111 people, Hungary, yesterday pledged to assist Nigeria in tackling the insurgency. A bomb blast rocked a juma’at mosque in Jambutu area of Jimeta, Yola, the Adamawa State capital, yesterday, killing many worshippers and injuring scores of others.

The juma’at mosque, newly built and being Commissioned yesterday is located at the Hajj Transit Camp, where pilgrims are camped before performing the holy pilgrimage. Eyewitness in the mosque told newsmen that an under-aged, who was carrying the explosives rushed to enter the mosque when the explosive went off.

The witness added that the incident occurred moments after the Imam had commenced the two Rakat Juma’at prayers. The military immediately cordoned off all access roads to the area, even as over six ambulances were seen conveying the dead and the injured to hospitals.

According to the eyewitness, the death toll might run to over 40.  The executive Secretary of Adamawa State Emergency Relief Agency, Haruna Furo, confirmed the blast, but could not give the casualty figures. Adamawa state police command through its spokesman, Othman Abubakar also confirmed the blast.

Authorities of the Federal Medical Centre Yola have appealed for blood donations to assist the injured numbering over 50 now receiving treatment in the Hospital.

The public Affairs officer of the hospital, Mallam Muhammed Dodo who spoke to Vanguard stated that the causality figure was on a higher side, but could not give the exact number of the dead. This is the third bomb blast in Yola the Adamawa state capital this year.

Also, Military sources disclosed yesterday  that a suicide bomber blew himself up inside a mosque during the morning Islamic ‘Subhi’ prayers in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital killing six persons while 17 others were injured. Confirming the suicide attack, the National Emergency Management Agency said its rescuers evacuated six dead bodies of the victims of the early morning suicide bombing.

A senior health worker also confirmed that the six bodies have been deposited in the mortuary while  other injured victims are being treated in specialist and teaching hospitals in Maiduguri. The mosque is located behind Magistrate Court, Polo Area in Maiduguri. It was gathered that the explosion was carried out by a suspected lone suicide bomber while his two accomplices escaped, when some vigilant members of the community accosted them over their suspicious movements.

Buhari seeks bilateral relations with Hungary on security, agriculture

Meanwhile, President Muhammadu Buhari, yesterday, said that Nigeria would partner with Hungary in the areas of insecurity and agriculture. According to him, the partnership will further deepen the bilateral cooperation between both countries which have similar security challenges.

The president spoke when he received the Vice Prime Minister of Hungary, Mr. Zsolt Semjen, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. “Hungary faces some immigration challenges today, just like other parts of Europe. We also have our challenges in the North-Eastern part of Nigeria. “Hungary is able to fully understand our problems, and we can work together,” he said

Also speaking, Vice Prime Minister Semjen described terrorism as a global challenge, and pledged his country’s support to the efforts of the Nigerian Armed Forces to end the Boko Haram  insurgency. “The extremism of Boko Haram is not Islamic. It runs contrary to all human philosophies,” the Vice Prime Minister said. He also promised that Hungary would deploy its expertise in the area of agriculture to assist Nigeria.

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