Tricycle Suicide Bomber kills two in Maiduguri
Witnesses said two people were this morning killed when a suicide bomber on a bomb laden tricycle (popularly known as Keke NAPEP) targeted a patrol vehicle of men of the Joint Task Force (JTF) in Custom area of Maiduguri.
The suicide bomber was said to have missed his target, ran into a moving Mercedes Benz car and detonated an Improvised Explosive Device. JTF Spokesman, Lt Col Sagir Musa who confirmed the incident in a statement said the suicide bomber and a civilian died in the incident while two other people including a soldier sustained injuries from the explosion.
Meanwhile panic gripped residents of Kaduna yesterday, as a bomb explosion occurred in the heart of the metropolis. Two persons suspected to be suicide bombers and resident died in the explosion.
The two suicide bombers allegedly rode on a motorcycle with Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) along Aliyu Akilu Road when the explosion occurred. Their bodies were shattered by the blast. Another cyclist who was following the bombers died on the way to the hospital as his stomach was ripped opened. The incident occurred at 3.45 p.m., a few meters away from the Sultan Bello Mosque where the Ramadan Tafsir was held.
Besides, as residents and passersby were running for dear lives in the area, armed security men, who cordoned the vicinity of the blast, could not assess the location where the shattered bodies of the bombers were found as honey bees invaded the area.
Armed policemen shot several canisters into the air to drive away the bees before they could assess the spot and evacuate the two bodies. An eyewitness said that the two motorcyclists were heading towards the northern part of the metropolis before the bomb exploded.
When contacted, the Acting Police Public Relations Officer, Abubakar Balteh, confirmed the explosion, saying 'two people were carrying an object suspected to be an Improvised Explosive Device on a motorcycle from Singer Roundabout toward Lugard Hall Roundabout close to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) filling station when the device exploded and killed the two of them.
The Kano State Police Command yesterday gave an account of truncated plans of suspected members of Boko Haram sect to cause violence in the state and the recovering of 26 IEDs and 11 cars from criminals. The command also recovered 45 rounds of ammunition and one AK 47 rifle during the special operation. The recoveries, the Police claimed, were separate from dangerous exhibits obtained by the Joint Task Force in the week under review.
Kano State Commissioner of Police, Ibrahim Idris, told journalists yesterday as part of the command routine security briefing that an attempted suicide attack was also foiled. Idris admitted the proliferation of criminal conspiracy, armed robbery and bank fraud in Kano. The Prelate, Methodist Church Nigeria, Dr. Sunday Ola Makinde, has called for the immediate convocation of a National Sovereign Conference to address salient issues facing the country.
Addressing journalists on the just-concluded biennial conference of the church conference, the cleric declared that the postponement of the SNC or disregard to convene same should be seen as non-readiness of the Federal Government to find solutions to the problems facing Nigeria.