MAIDUGURI MARKET BLAST: Death toll rises to 51

As earlier reported, Boko Haram insurgents coordinated three explosions in the morning of Saturday, March 7, 2015, at a Maiduguri market. 

According to latest reports, at least 51 people lost their lives and over 100 persons sustained various injuries in the worst attack on the state capital since the beginning of the year.

One of the explosive devices was detonated by a suicide bomber riding in a Keke Napep. The explosion which occurred at a crowded commercial area in Maiduguri, went off at around 11am.

Witnesses said many people were affected. Residents told various news agencies that a suicide bomber tried to enter Baga fish market.

The area is the biggest fish outlet in Northeast Nigeria where traders from across Nigeria and communities along the shores of the Lake Chad converge.

In the second explosion, the blast hit an area known as the Monday market, located in the heart of the state capital. Tahir Mamman, who sells eggs at precinct of the marketplace, said the blast went off near Kofa biyu.

The third blast was a car bomb that exploded by a bus station near a Department of State Security (DSS) office. The Express Bus Terminus is located along Damaturu road in Maiduguri.

Aliyu Musa, a resident in the area near the DSS office was quoted as saying “Men from the anti-bomb squad came a few minutes after the blast to comb the scene, then they started evacuating victims. I saw five mangled bodies being put in vehicles.”

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