THREE DIE AS SUICIDE BOMBERS HIT CHECKPOINT IN MAIDUGURI

Three persons died in an attempted suicide attack in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, on Tuesday night.

The Deputy Director, Army Public Relations, 7 Division Maiduguri, Col. Tukur Gusau, who confirmed the attack to journalists on the telephone on Wednesday, did not however specify if other militants were among the casualties.

Gusau called on the members of the public to be extra-vigilant, appealing to them to support the military in its effort to end the insurgency.

Habuya Mahmud, who is the commander of the youth vigilance group in Gomari airport ward, said that the bomber launched the attack at a checkpoint after the Maiduguri airport junction, along the Kano-Jos road.

According to him, two male suicide bombers approached the checkpoint shortly before 10pm.

The curfew in the state capital starts from 9.30pm.

Mahmud, who claimed that he witnessed the attack and equally participated in the rescue efforts, said the attackers approached the checkpoint from an opposite direction and the guard commander, an Air Force sergeant, flagged them down.

“He told them to move closer with raised arms; but as they got close enough to him, they detonated the explosives strapped on them, which resulted in their death and the Air Force personnel,” he said.

Mahmud added that a woman, who passed through the area at the time of the attack, was injured and was rushed to the Umaru Shehu Hospital at Bulumkuttu.