Boko Haram shakes Maiduguri again, kills 12

Boko Haram insur­gents made bold at­tempts to seize the Maiduguri-Damaturu high­way in Borno State hours after they raided the nearby town of Ngamdu on same route, killing no fewer than 10 people.

Several motorists and travellers were compelled to make U-turn at noon yester­day as the insurgents were said to have opened fire at a spot beween Beneshiek, some 85 kilometres to Mai­duguri, Borno capital and Ngamdu, about 35 kilome­tres to Damaturu, Yobe capi­tal.

Sources said the insur­gents were sighted few kilo­metres to Beneshiek along the highway where it killed nearly 100 people in June 2013, when it seized the road for about three hours.

The insurgents had on Fri­day night raided Ngamdu, previously attacked by the sect. No fewer than 10 people died, a vigilante and police source said.

“They came in the night and were shooting, pursu­ing people into the bush. So far, 10 corpses have been picked and houses burnt,” the vigilante leader, who did not want to be named told Sun­day Sun.

Boko Haram has stepped up attacks in northeast Borno State in recent time with more bomb explosions including the one early yes­terday morning near the Maiduguri office of the De­partment of State Service (DSS), in which four people were killed.

In a related development, the Police in Borno yester­day confirmed the death of two persons in an explosion that occurred around the Borno Express Terminus.

Mr Aderemi Opadokun, the Commissioner of Police in the state, gave the confir­mation while speaking with newsmen in Maiduguri. He said that three other persons were injured in the blast.

The News Agency of Nigeria in a report quoted Opadokun as saying, “There was an explosion of an Im­provised Explosive Device (IED) about 0700hours at the Welcome to Maiduguri Gate near the Borno Express Terminus close to the DSS office. The explosion came from a moving Tricycle (keke NAPEP).

“Two persons died in the explosion, while three others were injured,” Opadokun added.

He said that there was also a bomb scare along Baga road around 0900 hours in Maiduguri, which was dis­covered to be false by secu­rity agents.

“There was also a bomb scare In Bawac area of Baga road around 0900 hours. But security agents discovered that the object in question was not an explosive,” Opa­dokun said.