Boko Haram’s Market Bomb Kills 20 People In Bama

Suspected Boko Haram insurgents at the weekend detonated a bomb in a crowded market in Bama, Borno State, killing no fewer than 20 people, witnesses said yesterday.

Although no group has claimed responsibility for the incident, security officials said the attack on Saturday bore the hallmarks of an attack by Boko Haram.

“I travelled to Bama …to buy bags of beans. Suddenly, there was a deafening bang at the middle of the market. It was in the late afternoon and commercial activities were at their peak,” said Shuaibu Abdulahi, a trader at the market. He estimated the death toll to be as high as 29.

Abba Tahir, a bus driver who was offloading passengers at the market, said he counted 20 bodies.

“People were helping in evacuating the bodies after the confusion had died down. Some people who were injured were taken to the general hospital,” Tahir said.

The military spokesman for Borno State did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The state has ordered all of its schools shut before the end of term to protect children after sect members killed dozens of pupils in an attack last month.