A suicide explosion in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, has caused the death of two people.
The police spokesperson in Borno, Joseph Kwaji, said the two victims were the girls who wore the explosives. He said nine other residents have sustained injuries.
He said the girls wore suicide vests hidden under their garments and tried to sneak into Maiduguri late on Wednesday.
Vigilant security personnel who spotted the girls as they advanced towards a suburb of the city very close to the Giwa military barracks, ordered them to stop. But the defiant girls kept moving until they detonated their explosives.
The two of them died instantly, while nine residents of the neighbourhood sustained injuries from the shrapnel from the blasts.
“On 14/03/2018 at about 20:25 hours, two female suicide bombers in an attempt to infiltrate into Alikaramanti area, after Giwa Barracks, were intercepted by security operatives on duty.
“The two female suicide bombers thereby hurriedly detonated the IED strapped to their bodies killing themselves and injuring nine others,” the spokesperson said.
“Explosives Ordnance Department, EOD, have rendered area safe, while corpses and injured victims have been evacuated to the hospital. Normalcy has since been restored in the area.”
