Female bomber attacks Biu market, kills five

The main market in Biu, the largest town in the
southern part of troubled Borno State, was attacked
on Thursday with a bomb detonated by a female
member of the terrorist group, Boko Haram.
The blast led to the death of five persons, including
the female bomber who was believed to belong to the
terror group that planted the bomb at the market.
The incident also left 10 other persons injured and
caused panic in the town, which witnessed such an
incidence for the first time.
According to one of the traders who claimed to have
witnessed the incidence, Ibrahim Shaffa, the female
suicide bomber was caught trying to set up the
explosive device very close to the market at about
3.30pm on Thursday.
He said, “The youth and traders around the area, who
are not aware of what the woman was trying to do
only accosted her and told her to carry what she
dropped. It was during the argument that the explosive
device detonated and killed five persons, including the
woman.”
Shaffa added that 10 other persons were injured in
the explosion, stressing that they had been taken to
the Biu General Hospital for treatment.
He revealed that security agents visited the market
almost immediately after the explosion to ascertain the
level of destruction.
“They have restored normalcy to the area and the
initially apprehensive traders have started going about
their normal activities again,” he said.
A medical doctor at the hospital, who spoke
anonymously to one of our correspondents, confirmed
that 10 persons were brought to the hospital with
varying degrees of injury.
He said, “I cannot however confirm the number of
those that died in the incidence as they were not
brought here, but I learnt that they were five, including
the woman who was trying to plant the bomb.”
Attempts to get the Public Relations Officer of police
in the state, Gideon Jibrin to comment on the blast,
were unsuccessful as calls put through to his mobile
telephone did not go through.
Meanwhile, the Nigerien Army on Thursday said that its
soldiers had killed 260 Boko Haram fighters between
February 6 and February 13.
The spokesperson for the Nigerien Military, Col.
Moustapha Ledru, who disclosed this on Thursday,
added that troops also arrested some fighters of the
sect and seized some of their weapons. He did not
give details of how many of the fighters were arrested
and the quantum of weapons seized.
Niger had launched attacks on Boko Haram after the
sect’s fighters attacked some villages in the Diffa
region of the country late last month.
Ledru was quoted by some online publications to have
said that the cross-border attacks would continue until
the Boko Haram fighters were defeated. He urged
Nigeriens living in border towns with Nigeria not to
panic, adding that the military had taken steps to
establish peace and secure the people.
In a related development, the Federal Government on
Thursday raised the alarm that the Boko Haram sect
may have started recruiting and training new recruits.
The Coordinator of the National Information Centre on
the War against Terrorism, Mr. Mike Omeri, raised the
alarm at a press briefing in Abuja, citing intelligence
reports.
Omeri said, “In the general effort to contain acts of
insurgency in the North-East and secure the entire
area for the forthcoming general elections, the centre
wishes to alert the general public on very recent
intelligence reports which indicate a considerable
movement of Boko Haram recruits from such locations
as Geidam, Mairi and Dupcha (all in Borno State) to
training camps within the general area.
“Previous major attacks by insurgents, including the
siege to Bama and Monguno military bases, were
preceded by such massing up of fighters in training
camps within the proposed targets.
“This recent development which points to the same
direction has also been alluded to by the Boko Haram
group in its recent boast about having a 30,000 to
50,000-strong force to disrupt elections in
Maiduguri.”
Omeri, however, assured that the Nigerian military
forces had fully mobilised and deployed against the
insurgents whom he claimed were being chased and
roundly subdued.