More than 60 people were killed in twin suicide bombings in Mubi, Adamawa state on Tuesday. Two local residents who attended funerals of the victims revealed this to AFP.
Suicide
bombers killed dozens of people at a mosque and a market in northeast
Nigeria on Tuesday, in a twin attack bearing the hallmarks of Islamist
insurgents Boko Haram.
One Muhammad Hamidu, said:
“I took part in the burial of 68 people. More bodies were being brought by families of the victims.”
Another, Abdullahi Labaran, said:
“We left 73 freshly dug graves where each victim was buried.”
The
blasts, said to have been carried out by young boys, happened shortly
after 1:00 pm (1200 GMT) in Mubi, some 200 kilometres (125 miles) from
the Adamawa state capital, Yola.
Imam Garki, from the National
Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), said a joint assessment with the
police and Red Cross found that 26 people were killed and 56 were
injured, 11 of them critically.
They were transferred to the
Federal Medical Centre in Yola for treatment. But a medical source at
the Mubi General Hospital said they had received 37 bodies, while a
rescue worker involved in the relief operation said he counted 42 dead
and 68 injured.
adamawa bomb blast lailasnews 2
Adamawa bomb blast at the market today
“These I saw with my own eyes. We were counting as they were being taken,” said Sani Kakale.
Two local residents who attended funerals for the victims said the death toll was much higher — and could climb further.
“Before
I left the cemetery I took part in the burial of 68 people. More bodies
were being brought by families of the victims,” said Muhammad Hamidu.
“I think this is the worst attack Mubi has ever witnessed. The human loss is unimaginable.”
Abdullahi Labaran added:
“We left 73 freshly dug graves where each victim was buried. There are still unclaimed bodies at the hospital.
Conflicting
death tolls are not unusual in Nigeria. The authorities have also
previously played down casualty figures. Suspicion for the attack
immediately fell on Boko Haram, the jihadist group whose quest to
establish a hardline Islamic state in northeast Nigeria has left at
least 20,000 dead since 2009.
Mubi has been repeatedly targeted in attacks blamed on Boko Haram since it was briefly overrun by the militants in late 2014.
Nigeria’s
government and military have long maintained that the Islamic State
group affiliate is a spent force and on the verge of defeat. But there
has been no let-up in attacks in the northeast, particularly in Borno
state, adjacent to Adamawa, which has been the epicentre of the
violence.
Last Thursday, at least four people were killed when
suicide bombers and fighters attempted to storm the Borno state capital,
Maiduguri, raising fresh questions about security.
Nigerian
President Muhammadu Buhari has been in the United States this week and
met his US counterpart Donald Trump, who pledged more support in the
fight against Boko Haram.