By Ahmed Kingimi
MAIDUGURI, Nigeria, March 16 (Reuters) – Multiple blasts on Monday rocked Maiduguri city, capital of Nigeria’s insurgency-hit northeastern state of Borno, with several people feared killed, security sources and residents said.
The first blast went off at a post office in the city centre and was immediately followed by another at the popular Monday market nearby, two security sources and three Maiduguri residents told Reuters.
The sources and residents said two more blasts hit the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital, and another struck the eastern neighbourhood of Kaleri, all in the early evening of Monday.
The residents said they had seen dead bodies following the blast at the market. The number of casualties, or what caused the blasts, were not immediately clear.
Borno state police spokesperson Nahum Daso Kenneth said security operatives and emergency responders were deployed following reports of the blasts.
“Residents are advised to remain calm and avoid the area while assessments continue,” he said.
The Nigerian military, in a statement earlier, said security forces had repelled attacks on the outskirts of Maiduguri by suspected Islamist insurgents in the early hours of Monday.
Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province have carried out several attacks against army bases across Borno this month, killing several troops and seizing weapons.
(Reporting by Ahmed Kingimi; Additional reporting by Adewale Kolowale in Maiduguri; Writing by MacDonald Dzirutwe, Editing by Hugh Lawson and Daniel Wallis)
Comments