Three blasts hit the city of Maiduguri in
northeast Nigeria on Tuesday killing a
number of people, locals and the Red
Cross said.

The “huge explosions” happened in the
Ajilari Cross area of the city, the AFP
reports. The area has been targeted by
similar attacks twice in the last month,
including on September 20 when at least 117
were killed.

The previous attacks were blamed on Boko
Haram, which has increasingly hit “soft”
civilian targets in recent months using
suicide bombers and improvised explosive
devices.

It was not immediately clear what caused the
latest blasts, which happened in quick
succession from 8:10 pm (1910 GMT), said
Bashir Mohammed, whose house is near the
scene.
“We are all confused and people are running
helter-skelter,” he said.
Sheriff Ahmad, a cleric in the area, said:
“Many people have been killed. I don’t know
how many and I don’t think anyone can tell
you now.”

Ahmad described seeing body parts on his
house, while Hafsat Sani, a nurse at the
nearby Umaru Shehu Hospital, said: “There
are many houses around the area and the
blasts have affected many of them.”

The hospital quickly began receiving the
Injured while police, soldiers, the Red Cross
and officials from Nigeria’s National
Emergency Management Agency (NEMA)
were mobilised, he said.

A Red Cross official said: “Obviously there
are people that died but I don’t have
figures.”
There was no immediate comment from the
police or military while details were sketchy
as Maiduguri is subject to a night-time
curfew.

On October 1, at least 10 people were killed
and 39 injured when four suicide bombers
blew themselves up in a wave of attacks in
Ajilari Cross, which is near Maidugiri airport
and a military base.

At least two bombs were strapped to
teenage girls, witnesses and the police said
at the time.

The September 20 attack targeted a mosque
and killed football fans watching a televised
match as well as bystanders.

Amnesty International said last month that
the Boko Haram conflict had killed at least
1,600 people since the start of June in
Nigeria, Niger, Chad and Cameroon and
called for more protection for civilians.

An AFP tally puts the death toll at more than
1,320 in Nigeria alone since Muhammadu
Buhari became president on May 29.


Source: naij.com