Barely a week after a twin suicide bomb attack in the same location, another two explosions have shattered through a Maiduguri, Borno State open market on Monday.
Witnesses at the site of the explosion explained that the suicide bombing was carried out by a hijab-clad female who pretended that she wanted to buy goods from the chicken section of the market.
The witnesses further explained that, vigilantes in the premises had smelt a rat about the woman, who was described as being middle aged, leading them to demand her to declare the contents of her luggage.
The argument that erupted from the woman’s refusal to submit herself to searching had attracted a small crowd giving the bomber the perfect condition she required to detonate the bomb and achieve maximum damage.
“Scores were blown to pieces, while many were severely injured,” an eyewitness said.
There are still speculations on the true nature of the explosion though, as to whether the bomb was planted on the woman or she was actually a suicide bomber.
Another explosion had swiftly followed the one that went off from the woman’s luggage in another part of the market near the first site.
Recall that, last Tuesday two women dressed in the same manner as the Monday bomber had also bombed the Monday market, killing at least 45 people. More than a dozen lives were also wasted on 1st July when the same market was attacked.
The police had reported on Friday that it found a remote-controlled explosive device hidden in the dirt close to another market in the same town, but its anti-bomb squad had been swift to defuse the weapon. The police had also arrested two suspected female suicide bombers in another part of the capital city.
The casualty figure from the Monday blast is yet to be ascertained as at the time of this report.
