Suicide bombers hit Maiduguri

Five policemen and at least three civilians were killed yesterday when two suicide bombers rammed their car into a police patrol vehicle in the outskirts of Maiduguri. This was the first incident in the Borno State capital since penultimate Friday’s attack on the main military base, in which hundreds of detainees were freed and many […]

Five policemen and at least three civilians were killed yesterday when two suicide bombers rammed their car into a police patrol vehicle in the outskirts of Maiduguri.

This was the first incident in the Borno State capital since penultimate Friday’s attack on the main military base, in which hundreds of detainees were freed and many of them killed later on by troops and local vigilantes.
Yesterday’s bombing happened near Dalori along Maiduguri-Bama road, not far from the University of Maiduguri.
Vigilante leader Ibrahim Haruna told Daily Trust he saw five bodies of policemen at the scene.
“It happened around 9am when we heard loud blasts and we mobilised to the scene where we discovered that it was a suicide bomb attack on a police patrol vehicle,” Haruna said.
“I saw five bodies of policemen scattered over the place,” he added.
Residents of the area told our correspondent that the spot where the incident happened is a regular stop-and-search point operated by a police patrol team.
On approaching the spot yesterday, the suicide bombers accelerated speed of their car and rammed into the police vehicle, causing a loud explosion that was heard many kilometres away.
The three civilians killed in the incident were passersby, residents said. Along with the two suicide bombers, the total death toll stood at 10.
Borno State police spokesman, Gideon Jibrin, confirmed to journalists that five policemen and three civilians died when bombers rammed their vehicle into a police patrol car.
Our correspondent, who was at the scene moments after the blast, saw charred remains of the police vehicle scattered around the place. But the bodies had been evacuated by then.
Mangled remains of the Volkswagen car used by the bombers were also seen, with two burnt bodies of the attackers inside. Military men cordoned off the Maiduguri-Bama road for close to three hours after the incident.
The explosion created a pandemonium among villagers in Dalori, as our correspondent saw men, women and children who fled their homes trekking towards Maiduguri metropolis.
A sniffer dog was also noticed at a military checkpoint about two kilometers away from the scene of the incident.
Yesterday’s blast came just weeks after the bombing near a football viewing centre that killed more than 50 people in Maiduguri.
The city had seen relative peace for months last year, after dislodged insurgents focused their attacks on villages and other towns in the state.