At least 59 people died and 92 others injured as terrotists hit Maiduguri market on Tuesday
Thirty five of the corpses, according to medical sources, were deposited at the mortuary of the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital.
The remaining 24 corpses were taken to the state specialist hospital in the troubled city.
A military source told our correspondent that the female bomber was the first to detonate her IED, “killing herself and some traders and their customers who were near her.”
He added, “Just as people gathered around her corpse and few other people that died in the first explosion, the male bomber detonated the explosive on him. No one can give you the exact casualty now but over 50 people were killed and many have been rushed to hospital.”
Earlier, some traders at the market had claimed that the attacks were carried out by two female suicide bombers believed to be members of Boko Haram.
One of them, Abba Kolo, said he counted “more down 40 corpses.”
“As I am talking to you we are still trying to rescue the injured and evacuate the corpses of almost 60 traders and people who came to purchase things in the market.”
A youth vigilante, Hassan Ibrahim, however claimed that the female attacker kept a parcel in a shop on One-Way, a commercial area beside the popular market, which detonated as she made to walk away.
“As people were still wondering what happened and trying to rescue the injured, another bomber in the same area detonated a bomb planted on his body. This claimed so many lives.”
A trader, Ali Bukar, said, “They were two suicide bombers. The first detonated an IED, killing herself and many people. But as traders and their customers were running for their lives, the other bomber detonated his own, killing many more. I saw about 14 tricycles evacuating corpses to the hospital.”
A worker at the UMTH said “about 35 corpses and 42 injured persons were brought to our facility”.
The state’s Ministry of Health Permanent Secretary and Executive Secretary Hospital Management Board, Salisu Bura, told Governor Kashim Shettima that 24 corpses were deposited at the hospital.
He also told the governor, who visited the victims at the State Specialist Hospital, that 54 people were admitted.
“Out of this number, 14 of them who were critically injured have been referred to the UMTH for proper treatment while 20 have been discharged.”
Shettima described the bombers as “wicked” and wondered why they had chosen traders and children as their targets.