3 Killed By Suicide Bomber In Borno As Boko Haram Abducts 35 Commuters On Maiduguri Road

A suicide bomber suspected to be Boko Haram has detonated explosives in Borno’s central town, killing no fewer than three persons.

The bomber sneaked into Konduga, a town some 35 kilometres to Maiduguri, the state capital on Friday and blew himself up. Three people were killed in the attack and about seven people injured, local sources said.

Neither the police nor the military have released any official reaction on the attack, the first in about nine months in the area. The area has experienced relative peace until the Friday bombing, resident Ali Yale said.

Meanwhile, 35 commuters have been abducted by suspected Boko Haram insurgents on a Borno highway, a senior security source said.

The source said the commuters were travelling at about 6pm on Friday when they encountered the insurgents dressed in military camouflage.

He said the commuters were few kilometres away from Maiduguri and were rushing to meet up with the 6pm window allowed for vehicles to get into troubled Maiduguri.

One of those who was lucky not to be abducted told journalists that when they got to Garin Kuturu, they saw a massive fire and initially thought it was bush burning but on getting closer, they realised that a big truck had been set ablaze by hoodlums, many of whom were dressed in military camouflage.

He said it was already too late for some of them as they had already run into the ambush.