· Police foil 3rd suicide attack, kill 12-year-old bomber
· Presidency condoles victims’ families
No fewer than five people were killed while 17 others were critically injured after two suicide bombers detonated their explosive devices at the University of Maiduguri, Borno State in the early hours of Monday, January 16.
The first incident, which occurred at about 5am when Muslim faithful went to Mosque for early morning prayers, claimed the life of a professor of the university and left many injured.
The Point gathered that the second explosion occurred near the university’s 5th gate usually used by pedestrians and claimed four more lives.
According to the spokesperson of the National Emergency Management Agency, Sani Datti, one of the suicide bombers detonated his explosive at a Mosque near gate 1 when Muslim faithful were observing their early morning prayer, while the second one occurred around gate 5 of the University.
The explosion is the first to occur in the university since the Boko Haram insurgency began in the country.
The bodies of the deceased were said to have been evacuated to a mortuary, while those injured have been moved to a nearby hospital within Maiduguri town.
Meanwhile, men of the Nigeria Police Force have killed a 12-year-old suicide bomber at Bara Karaya village behind the university in what would have been a third suicide attack on the community.
The spokesman of the Nigerian Police Force in Maiduguri, Victor Isuku, while speaking on the incident, said, “At about 08:000hrs, a third suicide bomber, female, of about 12 years with IED strapped to her body, was intercepted at Bara Karaya village behind University of Maiduguri, in Muna Garage general area.
“The suicide bomber was sighted by villagers who promptly alerted the military. She was gunned down, while the EOD personnel of the command secured and rendered safe her unexploded IED vest.”
In his reaction, President Muhammadu Buhari, has sent condolences to the families of the victims of the twin bomb explosions which rocked UNIMAID.
The president wished the injured a quick recovery while also expressing optimism that the nation will triumph over terror.
He called on Nigerians to remain vigilant in their respective communities, as “security agencies continue to combat the remnants of the insurgents and their sponsors.”
