It was tears and wailing as the slain Borno oil exploration consultants were buried in Maiduguri following attack by Boko Haram insurgents on Wednesday. Reports stated that four people were killed in a suicide bomb attack at Mandirari Village in Konduga local government area of Borno state. An offi cial of the Borno state Emergency Management Agency, Bello Danbatta, who confi rmed the development, said yesterday that the attack occurred late on Wednesday One of the persons killed during the attack was Idris Ajodi, the younger brother of the University of Maiduguri Vice-Chancellor, Professor Abubakar Njodi. Danbatta said the agency had since deployed its rescue team to the village, which according to him, is near Maiduguri, the Borno capital. Danbatta said the team had also evacuated people, who sustained injuries in the attack to the Maiduguri Specialist Hospital for medical attention.
Th e attack is the latest in an increasing spate of deadly attacks in the war-wrecked North-east, the epicentre of the Boko Haram insurgency, which commenced in 2009. A resident of Mandirari Village, Jubril Modu, who claimed to have witnessed the attack, said four female suicide bombers were involved in the attack. He said the bombers were intercepted by members of the Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF), when the insurgents were trying to infi ltrate Mandirari Village. Modu said one of the insurgents detonated an explosive strapped to her body, making the device strapped on two other suicide bombers to detonate. “Th e bomb blew up the insurgents into pieces. One member of the CJTF and three others sustained injuries in the blast.’’ Modu explained that the fourth suicide bomber threw away the explosive device on her body and fl ed. “A team of the CJTF member is searching for the fl eeing suicide bomber.” A member of the military task force, who spoke to NAN on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak on the issue, also confi rmed the attack. Th e offi cer, however, said security had been beefed up in the area.
