10-year-old girl bombs Maiduguri market, kills 20

Twenty persons, including a female suicide bomber
were killed in a major market in Maiduguri, the
capital of the troubled Borno State following an
attack by the Boko Haram sect on Saturday
The female bomber was reportedly a 10-year-old
girl. The incident also left 18 persons injured, the
Police Public Relations officer of the Borno State
Police Command, Gideon Jubrin, has confirmed.
He said the incident occurred at about 12:30pm at
a section of the market.
Also, the spokesman of the National Emergency
Management Authority, AbdulKadir Ibrahim, said
workers from the agency were at the market to
help those injured in the blast.
The attack was at the Yen-Kaji area of the market
where chickens are sold. The section was
immediately cordoned off by the military as
tension rose in the troubled town.
Red Cross officials were seen conveying injured
persons to the hospital.
Meanwhile, scores of people were killed in
Damaturu, the capital of Yobe State late Friday
night as members of the sect attacked the town.
The Executive Director of Stefanos Foundation, Mr.
Mark Lipdo, quoting military sources in the state,
said the militants launched an attack on the city
around 8 pm.
The attack came few hours after military authorities
said they had launched a war to take over Baga
from the militants.
Amnesty International had said the attack on Baga
by the sect remained the deadliest in the history of
Boko Haram’s over five-year reign of terror in the
North-East as no fewer than 2,000 people were
feared killed in the incident.
The attack on Damaturu also came on the heels of
a similar attack on Gwoza in Borno State the day
before. Boko Haram was reported to have pulled
down houses of the minority ethnic and religious
people and Church buildings in Gwoza Local
Government Area. They were said to have also
succeeded in pulling down COCIN Church building
and other places of worship around the area.
In a related development, two persons were on
Saturday killed in a bomb blast at the Polistum
Divisional Police Station in Yobe State.
Meanwhile, no fewer than 200 Boko Haram
members were killed by troops at Askira Uba, a
border town between Adamawa and Borno states
on Saturday.
The insurgents, it was gathered, were trying to
penetrate Damaturu, Adamawa State, through the
town but were killed by the troops who were
stationed in the area during a gun battle.
The terrorists had earlier attempted to storm
Damaturu on Friday, but were repelled by the
military, during an operation that lasted for several
hours.
Our correspondent further learnt that the
community leaders in the area have enlisted the
help of local hunters and vigilance groups to assist
the military to counter attacks by the terrorists.
The Director, Defence Information, Maj.Gen. Chris
Olukolade could not be reached for comments on
Saturday.
Also, the United Nations refugee agency has stated
that 7,300 Nigerian refugees have arrived in
western Chad in the past 10 days, fleeing attacks
by insurgents on Baga town and surrounding
villages.
The UN spokesperson, Adrian Edwards, said the
agency’s teams in Chad were at the border and
seeking more information on the new arrivals and
their needs.