Suicide bomber kills father, 10 others in Borno mosque

Eleven persons were on Wednesday killed in a suicide attack on a mosque at Gamboru town in the Gamboru-Ngala Local Government Area of Borno State.

A member of a youth vigilante group in Gamboru, Modu Ibrahim, told our correspondent on the telephone that a suicide bomber detonated explosives strapped to his body at a mosque in Gamboru.

He said the bomber, who died in the explosion, caused the death of 10 other persons.
He said while nine died immediately, two other persons were later confirmed dead in the hospital.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the attack occurred at about 5am, when a teenage male suicide bomber detonated an Improvised Explosive Device, strapped to his body in a mosque in the Yobe area of Gamboru.

The Theatre Commander, Operation Lafiya Dole, Maj. Gen. Rogers Nicholas, confirmed the attack to NAN in Maiduguri.

But Nicholas said five persons were killed in the attack as against the 11 earlier reported.

He added that the troops neutralised a suicide bomber at Rann, the headquarters of the Kala-Balge Local Government Area.

“Yes, but only five were killed and another suicide bomber neutralised in Rann,” he said.

But a resident of Gamboru, Lawan Abba, maintained that 10 persons were killed while six others sustained varying degrees of injury in the attack.
Abba disclosed that the suicide bomber sneaked into a crowded mosque while people gathered to observe the morning prayer and detonated the explosive.

He revealed that the teenage suicide bomber hailed from Gamboru town, adding that the bomber’s father was among the 10 persons who lost their lives in the attack.

“The suicide bomber hailed from Gamboru town; he disowned his parents and joined the insurgents in the bush.

“He entered the mosque, blew up himself into pieces and killed 10 persons, including his biological father,” he said.

Abba added that the injured persons were referred to the clinic in the Internally Displaced Persons camp in the area for treatment.

The state government had a day earlier tightened security. It announced the extension of curfew hours in the state capital, Maiduguri, after the resurgence of violence.