No less than 13 people have been killed after three suicide bombers struck in Chibok, Borno State on Wednesday. Chibok, a remote town, where Boko Haram had kidnapped more than 200 schoolgirls, was already packed with traders from surrounding village for the weekly market when the blast occurred. Dazzban Buba, a volunteer health worker, said ten died on the spot and another one died on the way to the hospital, “A woman and a child died as they were being admitted to the hospital, so now the death toll stands at 13. Thirty others were injured, 21 in critical condition.” The attack has prompted terrified residents to lock themselves in their homes or flee in fear of repeat attacks.
According to Ayuba Chibok, a town elder, the first bomber set off his explosives at the checkpoint where people coming into the town were being searched and the second bomber managed to get into the market and blew him up. A third bomber was identified and residents pursued him. When he realised he was about to be apprehended he detonated his explosives in an area not far from the market.”
However, Buba said the 30 injured were mostly suffering from burns and fractures, and that nine had been discharged, he added.
Chibok came to prominence in April 2014 when Islamist fighters stormed a boarding school and kidnapped 276 girls, causing global outrage.
Improved anti-Boko Haram campaign by the Nigerian military in recent months brought about a significant decline in Boko Haram attacks, but with three recorded attacks this month. The attacks, with the recent one, further proved the difficulty in protecting Nigerians in hard-to-reach rural areas.
President Muhammadu Buhari had assured Nigerians that the government would defeat the insurgents.
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