Suicide Bombers Hit Maiduguri Town Killed Five Policemen and Five Others

Five policemen were among 10 persons killed in Maiduguri yesterday when two vehicles driven by suicide bombers rammed into a police patrol vehicle.

The latest attack on Maiduguri, the Borno State capital and epicentre of the Boko Haram insurgency, coincided with a protest led my Muslim women to the National Assembly over the mindless killing of Nigerians by the terrorists.

Those who lost their lives in the incident, which occurred at about 9 am, included five policemen, three civilians and the two suicide bombers who drove two Volkswagen Golf cars that rammed simultaneously into the police Toyota Hilux patrol van.

It was also learnt that many other persons were left with severe injuries from the incident that shook the entire town and resulted in security checks being established in other parts of the town.

It was gathered that after the incident, which happened on the outskirts of Maiduguri, near Dalori Housing Estate, soldiers of the 7 Division of the Nigerian Army, with a combined team of riot policemen and the youth vigilante group, popularly called Civilian JTF, swung into action combing the area for other attackers who were believed to be at large.

The scene of the blast was cordoned off in order to prevent further attacks and vehicles moving to and from the area were thoroughly searched.

The state police Public Relations Officer, Deputy Superintendent of Police Gideon Jubrin, who confirmed the incident to journalists on the phone, revealed that the five policemen who lost their lives in the attack were attached to the Federal Highway Patrol team. He also revealed that three civilians, and the two suicide bombers died on the spot.

A member of the Civilian JTF, Ibrahim Haruna, who also spoke to journalists, revealed that he saw the mangled bodies of the police officers immediately after the explosion.

He said the incident happened "around 9 am when we heard a loud bang and we mobilised to the scene where we discovered that it was a suicide bomb attack on a police patrol vehicle. I saw five bodies of policemen scattered all over the place".

When the scene of the attack was visited by THISDAY yesterday afternoon, a burnt Volkswagen car believed to be used by the suicide bombers was seen with the two corpses of the suicide bombers.