No fewer than 45 of 82 victims of Tuesday’s market suicide bomb attack in Konduga, Borno State, have been transferred from the General Hospital, Konduga to State Specialist Hospital, Maiduguri, authorities said.
A doctor at the general hospital who pleaded anonymity, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday that 17 people were brought in dead to the facility.
The doctor said three others died at a hospital in Maiduguri.
“Initially, 17 people and three suicide bombers were killed at the scene of the attack, while three others, including a child, died at the hospital in Maiduguri.
“We are providing treatment to the victims admitted in the hospital, while those with serious cases were referred to Maiduguri,” the doctor said.
Head of Rescue Team, State Emergency Management Agency, Mallam Abdullahi Danbatta, said the agency’s team evacuated three bodies from the hospital in Maiduguri to Konduga.
Danbatta added that the team evacuated more than 40 people with serious injuries to the Specialist Hospital, Maiduguri.
The Borno State Commissioner of Police, Mr Damian Chukwu, confirmed 16 dead and 82 injured in the attack.
Chukwu said the police had visited and rendered the scene and vicinity of the attack safe as well as restored normalcy to the area.
Tuesday’s attack occurred two days after Boko Haram insurgents sacked a nearby village, Wanori-Amarwa, where they killed four persons and maimed two others.
Konduga is one of the towns liberated by the military from the Boko Haram insurgents, is 25 kilometres from Maiduguri and has a population of more than 20,000.
Following the military action, thousands of displaced persons who took refuge at various camps returned to their homes in the area.
Meanwhile, Mr Buana Makinta, a relation of one of the victims, expressed concern over the alleged lack of medications at the regional hospital.
Makinta alleged that the patients were not provided medications many hours after they were admitted at the hospital.
He called on the government and donor agencies to provide drugs and a generator for the hospital to save lives.
In a related devlopment, United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres, has condemned Tuesday’s Boko Haram attacks on Borno State, saying the perpetrators should be swiftly brought to justice.A female bomber had blown herself up at a market in Konduga, a village near Maiduguri, killing 27 people.
In a separate attack, two suicide bombers blew themselves up at the gates of an internally displaced persons (IDPs) camp, injuring many.
In a statement issued by Stéphane Dujarric, Guterres’s spokesman, the Secretary-General called for the prosecution of those responsible for the “senseless” attacks.
He also condemned similar terror attacks carried out in Nigeria and neighbouring countries.
He called for “those responsible for these repeated heinous acts in Nigeria and neighbouring countries to be swiftly brought to justice.”
The United Nations chief extended his deep condolences to the government and people of Nigeria for the loss of lives, while wishing a speedy recovery to those injured.
He reiterated “the United Nations’ solidarity and support to the government of Nigeria in its fight against terrorism and violent extremism.”
Guterres also renewed the commitment of the United Nations to support efforts within the framework of the counter-terrorism initiatives of the Lake Chad Basin Commission.
The latest attack occurred on the same day the military launched mobile strike teams in the theatre of operation to enhance operational efficiency in the anti-terrorism war.
It also took place around the same time Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau, released a video threatening to carry out attacks on Maiduguri,” the state capital.
“You are finished! You the people of Maiduguri, we will finish you for choosing the way of the infidels; for embracing democracy,” Shekau had said in the video.
The sect had continued to carry out attacks in the region, despite military presence.
After killing some oil workers in Borno last month, Acting President Yemi Osinbajo ordered service chiefs to relocate to the hotbed of the insurgency. The order had, however, not reduced the spate of attacks.
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