There was no immediate official word on casualties. A hospital source said dozens had been killed in the separate explosions and witnesses saw bodies being taken away from different blast sites. The attacks came on a day the military claimed to have recaptured two local government areas of Borno State from Boko Haram.
A tricycle rider with a bomb tried to enter a fish market on the Baga Road in the west of Maiduguri. The bomb exploded when the tricycle was prevented from going in, Mohammad Ajia, a trader in Baga market, said after fleeing the scene.
A second blast then hit an area known as the Monday Market before a car bomb exploded by a bus station near a Department of State Security (DSS) office, according to a civilian member of a joint task force.
“Men from the anti-bomb squad came a few minutes after the blast to comb the scene, then they started evacuating victims. I saw five mangled bodies being put in vehicles,” Aliyu Musa, a resident in the area near the DSS office, said.
Near the Monday Market, casualties were loaded onto waiting ambulances.
“I have counted five ambulances that have evacuated victims from the scene. Soldiers are shooting in the air and warding off people at the market,” Salisu Yaya , a member of a civilian task force, told reporters at the Monday market area.
Maiduguri is the capital of Borno State, the heartland of Boko Haram.
Suspected Boko Haram militants tried to seize the city at the end of January but were repelled in fighting that killed more than 100 people.
In a related development, the military claimed, yesterday, that it had recaptured Mafa and Marte Local Governments Areas of Borno State from Boko Haram. “During these operations, the gallant and courageous troops recovered a large quantity of high caliber of arms and ammunitions including anti-aircraft guns from the insurgents”, a statement by the military said.
“It is significant to note that our troops did not suffer any casualty during these operations.
Presently, troops are conducting cordon and search and mopping up operations in the recovered territories, while effort is on going to recover more grounds from the fleeing terrorists.
“With the capture of Mafa, Marte LGAs, and the Chadian troops holding fort in Dikwa, the international route from Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad and Central African Republic is now fully secured. With this positive development, the security of the area has significantly improved. It is hoped that international trade and socio-economic activities would be restored along this corridor”.
Threat
Meanwhile, Borno State Commissioner for Home Affairs, Information and Culture, Mohammed Bulama, yesterday, threatened to deal with the Maiduguri correspondent of Vanguard Newspapers, Ndahi Marama, over what he termed as his negative reports on Governor Kashim Shettima- led government of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The threat come via a telephone call put through to the reporter by the commissioner at about 1:16pm, moments after yesterday’s blasts in Maiduguri.
Bulama, in the telephone call, told the reporter: “I called to inform you that we are not satisfied with your reports these days, particularly the report you published in Saturday Vanguard which we consider negative to the government, and Wallahi Tallahi ( I swear to God), I will make sure that I terminate your appointment with Vanguard and make your stay uncomfortable in Borno State if you did not desist from writing negative reports on the activities of the state government and APC in general”.
He claimed that throughout last week when his principal embarked on his campaign in the southern part of the state, Vanguard and other newspapers were giving bad publicity to the APC government.
When asked by the reporter why the commissioner threatened him while performing his constitutional duty, Bulama switched off his phone, but not before telling the reporter: “Be careful”.
Source -vanguard News
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