Female suicide bomber kills 7, injures 30 in Damaturu bus station

A female suicide bomber on Sunday at Damaturu Central Motor Park blew herself up, killing 7 people and wounding 30, police said.

No one claimed responsibility for the attack which bore the hallmarks of Islamist insurgent group Boko Haram, whose use of female suicide bombers has been an emerging trend over the past year.

Toyin Gbadisoye, the command police public relations officer (PPRO), made this known to newsmen in Damaturu, Yobe State.

He said seven people including the female suicide bomber died in the explosion.

“A female suicide bomber pretending to be a traveller boarded a bus at the station and detonated the bomb.”

The PPRO said the injured persons were taken to Damaturu Specialist Hospital for treatment.

He appealed to residents to report suspicious persons and objects in their areas to law enforcement agents for proactive action.

Adamu Muhammad, a witness, said he heard a loud blast and the people at the Damaturu’s central motor park “descended into panic.”

On Saturday, heavily armed Boko Haram militants attacked and attempted to overrun Gombe but were repelled.

In a similar development, the police in Kano on Sunday confirmed the killing of two gunmen suspected to be Boko Haram members in Kibiya Local Government Area of the state.

The command’s public relations officer, ASP Magaji Majiya, confirmed the incident in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Kano.

He said the incident happened on Saturday around 5.30p.m. when gunmen, numbering about six, stormed the police station on two motorcycles but the police repelled the attack.

He said one of the gunmen was killed during an exchange of fire while the other was lynched by the community while trying to escape.

According to him, two of the gunmen were also arrested and were now assisting the police in their investigation.

“No policeman was killed or injured during the incident,” he said.

Majiya said the gunmen had also abandoned one of their motorcycles before fleeing the area.

He said security had since been beefed up in the area, adding that neighbouring states had been alerted in order to arrest the fleeing hoodlums.

Meanwhile, the Federal College of Education (FCE), Technical, Gombe, has been closed down indefinitely.

Adamu Gimba-Abbas, the provost of the college, disclosed this in a telephone interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Gombe.

Gimba-Abbas explained that the decision to close the institution was done in consultation with Ibrahim Shekarau, minister of education; the executive secretary of the National Commission of Colleges of Education (NCCE) and other stakeholders.

According to him, military operatives are now occupying the college since February 10.

“When I sought for the reason, I was told that it was a base for military operation which they could not determine the period,” said the provost.

He said as a result of the presence of the soldiers in the college, accompanied with their helicopters, most of the students had left the institution because of apprehension.

“You know in this situation learning cannot take place in the presence of military,” he said.

Gimba-Abbas noted that the few students that were left had been directed to vacate the campus until when the security situation improved.

The provost said after reviewing the development in the college and the situation in Gombe, the governing council of the college directed for its immediate closure until further notice.

However, the students who are on campus cannot leave due to the 24-hour curfew imposed on Gombe metropolis following Saturday’s attacks on Dadin Kowa, Hina and Gombe towns of the state by insurgents.