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30 Nigerians Killed, 42 Injured, by 3 Suicide Bombers, 2 Females and a Male, in an Attack on a Film Center

June 17, 2019 

Alleged Boko Haram militantnts in northern Nigeria

 

Suicide bombers kill 30, injure 42 others in Borno

June 17, 2019

The Borno State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) on Monday said 30 persons lost their lives while 42 others were injured when three suicide bombers detonated Improvised Explosive Device (IED) in Mandarari community of Konduga Local government area of the state.

Usman Kachala, SEMA Director Search, Rescue and Operations who disclosed this to journalists when he visited the scene of the attack on Monday, said the incident occurred around 8 p.m on Sunday.

Mr Kachala said that the three suicide bombers, comprising two females and a male, detonated the IEDs in a local tea joint and film centre in the community.

He said that about 17 persons died instantly, adding that the death toll increased to 30 on Monday as a result of lack of immediate medical attention.

He said that his staff could not reach the spot of the incident as the military had closed the road to traffic and the hospital in Konduga did not have enough facilities to handle the situation.

“When I and my team arrived Konduga early this morning, the military prevented us from gaining access to the community to assist the victims.

“They told us they were given order from above not to open the road until 9 a.m,” he lamented.

NAN reporter who later visited the scene of the attacks along with SEMA team reports that dozens of the wounded victims were seen being conveyed in pick-up vans by their relations to hospitals in Maiduguri, the state capital, a distance of about 80 k.m from their town. (NAN)

Boko Haram: 14 reported killed, 38 injured as 2 suicide bombers attack Mandareri-Sambisa

 

Daily Post, June 17, 2019

By Maina Maina

At least, 14 people have been reported dead and 38 others seriously injured following a suicide bomb attack at Mandareri-Sambisa ward of Konduga Local Government Area of Borno State.

Some residents of the area, who spoke to DAILY POST on phone at exactly 22: 50 pm on Sunday night, said the suicide bombers were two in number, who attacked the community few minutes after eight O’clock.

According to the residents, the area attacked by the two suicide bombers is a crowded area where young men usually gather to while away time during the evening.

A political women leader in the area, who identified herself as Hajiya Fatima, said she was at the hospital in Konduga at the time of calling, adding that “people are just dying.”

From the background there was so much noise and confusion as people seemed to be calling for helping hands to carry those injured.

Hajiya Fatima said, “the situation is very bad as there are not many hands in the hospital to help the injured.

” We are hoping that the wounded would hold still before morning when help is hopefully going to come. Already Police and some soldiers have arrived the area,” she said.

For now there was no official details from either police or the military, but residents have said situation is bad as at the time of this report.

Details later….

https://dailypost.ng/2019/06/17/boko-haram-14-reported-killed-38-injured-2-suicide-bombers-attack-mandareri-sambisa/

25,794 Nigerians killed in violent crises in Buhari’s first term —Report

Published June 18, 2019

Punch, Nigeria, Samson Folarin

No fewer than 25, 794 Nigerians may have died in violent crises in the first four years of President Muhammadu Buhari.

The figure was released by the Nigeria Security Tracker, a project run by the Council on Foreign Relations, a nonprofit think tank specialising in United States foreign policy and international affairs.

The number represents those killed by different insurgent groups and Boko Haram in northern Nigeria, herdsmen, and people who died due to extra-judicial activities of the military.

From June 2015 to May 2019, when the President had his first tenure, our correspondent observed that Borno suffered the highest casualties recording 9,303 deaths. The state was followed by Zamfara (1,963) and Adamawa (1,529).

Others captured in the map are Kaduna (1,488), Plateau (771), Taraba (649), Benue (1,642), Niger (252) Rivers (730), Cross River (467), Ogun (301), among others.

Graphical illustration revealed that the highest casualties were recorded in July 2015 (1,299) and January 2019 (1,077).

Within the four years timeline, members of the Boko Haram sect were responsible for 5,598 deaths, while sectarian violence, including the herdsmen-farmers crisis, led to 4,917 deaths.

State actors alone, including the military, were said to have killed 4,068 people.

During the tenure of former President Goodluck Jonathan (June 2011 to May 2015), a total of 34,884 people were reportedly killed across the country.

The highest record of casualties was in March 2014, when 3,456 Nigerians were killed.

Boko Haram and the military were jointly responsible for 12,765 deaths.

The Council on Foreign Relations, while explaining the methodology behind the data, said it relied on media reports.

The report said, “The Nigeria Security Tracker tracks violence that is both causal and symptomatic of Nigeria’s political instability and citizen alienation. The data are based on weekly surveys of Nigerian and international media.

“The data start with May 29, 2011, the date of Goodluck Jonathan’s inauguration as president. It was an event that highlighted the increasing bifurcation of the country on regional and religious lines. The NST is updated weekly.

“Relying on press reports of violence presents methodological limitations. There is a dearth of accurate reporting across certain regions, death tolls are imprecise, and accounts of incidents vary. There is the potential for political manipulation of media. Given these limitations, the NST makes every effort to collect information from multiple sources. Nevertheless, NST statistics should be viewed as indicative rather than definitive.”

https://punchng.com/25794-nigerians-killed-in-violent-crises-in-buharis-first-term-report/

Nigeria suicide blast kills 30 at video hall in Borno

BBC, 17 June 2019

At least 30 people have been killed in a triple suicide bombing outside a video hall in north-eastern Nigeria, emergency service officials say. Another 40 were injured in the attack in Konduga village in Borno State, the officials said. There are conflicting report about whether the blast occurred while people were watching football or a film.

Militant Islamist group Boko Haram is being blamed for the attack. There was no immediate comment from the group. Formed in Borno State, the group has waged a brutal insurgency across the north-east for a decade. Ali Hassan, leader of a self-defence group in Konduga, told AFP news agency that the owner of the hall had prevented one bomber from entering. "There was a heated argument between the operator and the bomber who blew himself up," he said. Two other attackers who were nearby then set off their devices.

The number of deaths was so high because emergency services arrived late to the site of the blast and were not adequately equipped to deal with such a large number of wounded people, Usman Kachalla, head of operations at the State Emergency Management Agency (Sema) told AFP. Video halls are common across northern Nigeria. They are usually rudimentary buildings where people pay a small fee to watch football matches or films.

Boko Haram has targeted them on several occasions, saying they are unIslamic. Konduga has been targeted before. In July 2018, eight people were killed after a suicide bomber detonated explosives in a mosque. At least 27,000 lives have been lost and about two million people forced to flee their homes in the conflict with Boko Haram.

'Daunting and complex security challenges'

This latest attack comes at the end of a bloody weekend in northern Nigeria. There is rising concern of insecurity in other parts of the country. On Friday night an armed gang killed at least 34 people in the north-western state of Zamfara, which has been at the centre of a wave of attacks by bandits since the beginning of the year.

The Boko Haram insurgency has been terrorising people in the north-east for the past decade, and has been the main area of focus for Nigeria's armed forces. But the triple suicide bombings in Borno on Sunday reflect just how complex the security challenges are. The government has said that Boko Haram and the rival Islamic State of West Africa Province (Iswap) group are on their last legs. But both the military and population of the north-east continue to suffer regular attacks.

Although Boko Haram has lost a lot of the territory it held in the north-east in the last four years, it is still attacking soft targets in mosques, markets and public gatherings. Combine this with the ongoing banditry attacks in the north-west, and kidnappings across the country's highways, and the scale of the security challenge is daunting. 

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