Fourteen persons were killed in a suicide bomb attack on an accommodation housing newly returned internally displaced persons in Dikwa town, Borno State.
The head of the Rapid Response Team of the Borno State Emergency Management Agency, Bello Dambatta, disclosed that a female suicide bomber, on Friday night, after detonating an explosive device on her, caused the death of 14 persons and injuries to 24 others.
Dambatta said the suicide bomber penetrated a building housing returnees in Dikwa, east of Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State, detonating the explosive leading to massive casualties.
The BOSEMA boss added that the suicide bomber sneaked into the building close to the 20-unit housing estate around 8:30 pm and detonated the explosives strapped on her.
He said, “We have so far evacuated 38 victims, comprising 14 dead and 24 injured and brought them to the State Specialists Hospital, Maiduguri.”
A nurse with the State Specialists Hospital, Ali Ibrahim, who also confirmed the incident, said, “We received victims of Dikwa bomb blast this morning (Saturday). There were 14 brought in dead and 24 injured who are presently receiving treatment.”
A youth volunteer, Babagana Musa, who escorted the victims to Maiduguri from Dikwa, said communication challenges affected the immediacy of responding to the distress call and “fear of the unknown,” especially at night, informed the security operatives’ decision that the victims be taken out in the morning.
Musa said, “There is no network in Dikwa; that was why we could not communicate on time.”
Mamman Musa, who was at the Maiduguri hospital to check on the injured, said, “There are no camps in Dikwa town as almost all returnees are in homes. This incident comes as a very surprising thing to us.”
Meanwhile, the Deputy Director, Army Public Relations, Col. Clement Nwachukwu, confirmed the Dikwa attack to journalists.
He said, “Yes, there was a suicide attack on Dikwa town and seven people died, while six were injured.”
__________
Follow us on Twitter at @thesignalng
Copyright 2017 SIGNAL. Permission to use portions of this article is granted provided appropriate credits are given to www.signalng.com and other relevant sources.
