Multiple Suicide Bombings Kill 18 in Borno Market

Michael Olugbode

At least, 18 persons and three suicide bombers died on Friday night as a result of multiple suicide bomb attacks on Konduga, Borno State, the police have confirmed.

The Borno State Commissioner for Police, Damian Chukwu, told journalists in Maiduguri that three suicide bombers launched the attacks on Konduga and 18 persons were killed.

The attacks, which were launched between 8.30 pm and 9 pm, he said also led to 22 others sustaining various degrees of injuries.

He however said those injured in the attacks were immediately rushed to the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital (UMTH) for treatment.

According to him, the three suicide bombers (two females and one male) had accessed the Konduga Park along the road, passing through the town, where people usually gather to relax and buy things in the night and sometimes watch films.

Immediately, they accessed the park, the suicide bombers, he claimed, detonated their IEDs killing themselves and 18 innocent others, while 22 injured persons were rushed to the teaching hospital.

Normalcy, he maintained, has since been restored to the town with everybody going about their businesses.

An eyewitness, Abba Ali, who spoke to THISDAY from Konduga, said the attack was on a fish market at about 8:30pm on Friday, even as he confirmed that it was executed by three suicide bombers, who also died in the attack.

Ali further corroborated the police narrative, when he said the suicide bombers were two females and a male, adding that among those killed was a soldier, who went to the market to buy tea from the local seller.