From Timothy
Olanrewaju, Maiduguri

SUICIDE bombers yesterday targeted a petrol station and camps for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Maiduguri, Borno State capital, and detonated explosive devices that killed no fewer than nine persons. The twin bomb attacks also injured at least 24 persons, according to security officials.
The first explosion occurred as a female bomber ran into a group of men and women in front of the Bakassi IDP camp at about 7a.m. yesterday. Some IDPs were said to be coming out of the camp when the bomber approached them and exploded. Five people, mostly men, were killed while 11 people were injured.
Both the Nigerian Army and the Police in the state as well as the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) confirmed the bomb attack.
Deputy Director, Army Public Relations, 7 Division of the Nigerian Army, Maiduguri, Colonel Mustapha Anka, however, put the casualty figure at eight. He said a female bomber exploded at the Bakassi gate.
“At the Bakassi IDPs camp, a suspected female suicide bomber ran into a group of men and women at the entrance while they were coming out of the camp, killing five men and injuring 11 women,” Anka said in a statement.
He disclosed that the bodies of the victims had been evacuated and deposited in the mortuary while the injured ones were being treated at different hospitals in the state capital.
On the second explosion, which occurred about 7.05a.m., Anka said the bomber, also a female, targeted a fuel tanker with the sole aim of gaining entry into the fuel station.
“At the NNPC, a female suicide bomber followed a fuel tanker in Keke NAPEP tricycle with the sole aim of gaining entry to cause maximum damage and casualty but was prevented from gaining access to the station by another vehicle. In that process, the suicide bomber exploded killing the three occupants of the tricycle,” he said.
Spokesman of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Sani Datti said, “nine persons lost their lives with 24 people injured.”
He said those injured were evacuated from the scenes of the twin blasts to various hospitals in Maiduguri. He said the agency’s rescue team worked in conjunction with the military, Police, Red Cross and other volunteers to get the injured out of the scene.
General Officer Commanding (GOC), 7 Division of the Nigerian Army Maiduguri, Brig. Gen. Victor Ezugwu, who visited the scenes shortly after the explosions, gave the assurance that the military and other security agencies were determined to ensure security of life and property.
“We’re working round the clock to ensure the state and other affected northeast states are safe,” Ezugwu said.
Meanwhile, normalcy was restored to the city hours after the explosions even as families and relatives of the victims besieged the Borno Specialist Hospital at noon yesterday in search of their loved ones.