No fewer than than 30 people were killed on
Tuesday when a bomb blast hit packed crowds in Yola, northeast Nigeria,
just days after President Muhammadu Buhari visited and declared that
Boko Haram were close to defeat.
The explosion happened at about 8:20 pm in the Jambutu area of the Adamawa state capital.
“So far, we’ve recorded about 32 dead and about 80 injured,” said
Sa’ad Bello, the Yola coordinator for the National Emergency Management
Agency (NEMA).
The Red Cross and the Police said 31 people died and 72 were injured.
Red Cross official Aliyu Maikano and residents said the area targeted
was a lorry park which also houses a livestock market, an open-air
restaurant and a mosque.
The area was immediately cordoned off but with power unavailable, the rescue effort was conducted in near darkness.
“Victims could be lying all over the place,” Maikano said.
Although no group has claimed responsibility for the attack, it bore
the hallmarks of Boko Haram, which has previously attacked Yola with
suicide bombers and improvised explosive devices in recent months.
When President Buhari visited Yola earlier in the month, he decorated
soldiers for bravery in counter-insurgency. He also visited a camp for
people displaced by six years of violence that has left at least 17,000
people dead. He then told troops he believed Boko Haram “are very close
to defeat” and urged soldiers “to remain vigilant, alert and focused to
prevent Boko Haram from sneaking into our communities to attack soft
targets”.
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