Nigeria: 4 dead in suspected Boro Haram suicide attacks

By Olarewaju Kola

MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (AA) - Four people, including a local security volunteer, were killed in multiple suspected Boko Haram suicide bomb attacks early Wednesday in the volatile Nigerian city of Maiduguri, police said.

Police Chief Damian Chukwu said three suicide bombers attempting to penetrate the city between midnight and early morning blew themselves up, killing a local member of the security volunteer force known as Civilian JTF, or Joint Task Force.

"One suicide bomber, a male, was gunned down by military troops at about 12 midnight in the first suicide attack,” he told a press briefing.

“The second, also male, exploded after he was shot by military troops at about 4.55 a.m. [0355GMT] in the second suicide attack.

"The third, a female bomber, defied security and detonate her explosive devices about 200 meters from the scene of the second blast, killing a Civilian JTF and herself. Two people were also injured.

"In all, we recorded a total of four deaths and two injured."

He said the police have deployed intelligence to comb areas suspected to have been infiltrated by Boko Haram, which is responsible for most of the violence in the country’s northeast region, where it seeks to establish a so-called caliphate.

The suicide attack came barely a week after twin blasts at a major university killed five people, including a professor of veterinary medicine. In a video, Boko Haram claimed responsibility for the blasts.

The state-backed Civilian JTF is a team of volunteer youths fighting alongside the Nigerian military to end the over six-year Boko Haram insurgency in the area.

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari and military officials have lauded the volunteer group’s contributions to the counter-insurgency in the nation's troubled northeast region.