Shehu of Borno, dep gov survive suicide attack

The bomber had manoeuvred his way and got very close to the two dignitaries where he detonated his explosive shortly after Friday prayers, which was attended by hundreds of worshippers.   The Joint Task Force (JTF) said only five people were killed including the bomber while police said four, but witnesses said the victims may […]

The bomber had manoeuvred his way and got very close to the two dignitaries where he detonated his explosive shortly after Friday prayers, which was attended by hundreds of worshippers.

 

The Joint Task Force (JTF) said only five people were killed including the bomber while police said four, but witnesses said the victims may be more. Scores of people, including soldiers and other security operatives were injured.

Weekly Trust reports that the scene of the attack which is a stone throw to the palace of the Shehu and the Borno State House of Assembly was littered with decapitated human parts.

The royal regalia of the Shehu and the cloth of the deputy governor were stained by the blood of the victims killed by the explosion, but the two did not sustain any injuries, witnesses said.

No group has claimed responsibility over the attack, which many believed bore the hallmark of the Boko Haram, an Islamist group engaged in insurrections that had left hundreds of people, including security agents, government functionaries, clerics and politicians among others, dead.

“The attack was targeted at the Shehu, who is the Chairman of the Borno State Council of Chiefs as well as the deputy governor…It was a tragedy that was averted…many people had a close shave with death,” a security agent close to the deputy governor said.

“The bomber was less than five metres away from the Shehu and the deputy governor when he realized that security agents had noticed his uncomfortable movement and that was when he blew off himself,” he added.