Three suicide bombers sneaked into a local market at a remote community near Maiduguri, Borno State and detonated explosives, killing themselves and 18 others.
Police said they had cleared the entrance to the fish market (Kasuwan Kiffi) at Sabon Gari in Konduga Local Government Area of congestion, two hours earlier but the people returned as soon as the cops left.
Commissoner of Police, Borno State Command, Damian Chukwu told Sunday Sun that his men cleared the market area at about 6pm on Friday but three bombers; two females and a male sneaked into the market.
“They infiltrated the market and detonated explosives at about 8pm. Eighteen people and the three bombers died, while 22 persons were injured,” Chukwu disclosed.
He said the police explosive ordinance unit was “dispatched” to the scene for the clearance of possible unexploded bombs. He said evacuation of victims by rescue workers and police were completed early Saturday morning.
“Normacy has returned to the area and people have returned to their daily lives,” he said, even as he assured of more security in public places.
Among the victims were some locals selling bean cake, roasted yams and other food items in the market.
Sources at the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital (UMTH) however said two persons among the heavily injured people died early Saturday morning, bringing the number of deaths to 21.