Northeast Nigeria bomb attack kills 30, injures 91

By Olarewaju Kola

MAIDUGURI, Nigeria

At least 20 people were killed and 91 others injured in suspected Boko Haram suicide attack in northeast Nigeria's Borno State Monday morning, Nigeria’s disaster management authority said.

The blast took place in the state’s Maiduguri city near a mosque at Sulemanti ward, Jiddari-Polo area, at about 8 a.m., local time, barely 12 hours after the military claimed it had successfully intercepted 10 suspected bombers moving into the city.

National Emergency Management Agency head Mohammed Kanar confirmed the toll at 20 dead and 91 injured.

However, a medical officer at the Accident and Emergency Unit of the Borno State Specialists Hospital told Anadolu Agency on condition of anonymity that 30 dead bodies were brought to the mortuary.

On Sunday night, military spokesman Colonel Mustapha Anka said in a statement that troops intercepted and destroyed 10 suspected Boko Haram suicide bombers at the outskirts of Maiduguri city.

The latest attack in Borno State comes amid claims by the Nigerian government that it has decapitated Boko Haram and met the December deadline it set to end the insurgency in the country.