Suicide bomber kills 30 in Maiduguri on Eid Malud

A scene of the bomb blast in Maiduguri, Borno State ... on Tuesday.

This year’s Eid Malud Festival was marred in Maiduguri, Borno State  by a  bomb blast  at the busy Post Office Roundabout   in Maiduguri, Borno State on Tuesday.

A lone suicide bomber, believed to be a member of the Islamist militant sect, Boko Haram, carried out the attack which eye witnesses  said   left no fewer than 30 people dead and about 50 others injured.

The attack which occurred at about seven hours after eight people  died   in an   accident  on  the Osara-Okene Express Road, Kogi State, sparked protests by youths, who  alleged that  it  was traceable to politicians.

The angry youths damaged former governor Ali Modu Sheriff’s office  on   Kashim Imam Way  before  they left   for the  Government Reservation Area  where they  also torched  a building belonging to him.

It was gathered that the former governor, who was still in the state as of the time the explosion occurred, was hurriedly driven to the Maiduguri Airport   en route for Abuja. He  was said to have been escorted by a well armed police team.

Soldiers fired shots into the air to disperse the youths  before cordoning off the roads around the blast site and the GRA.

Investigation, however, revealed that Improvised Explosive Devices were wired to a vehicle and detonated  at the   roundabout which also leads to the Monday Market, the busiest market in  the troubled city.

-punch