Maiduguri: 2 suicide bombers die, 1 arrested in failed mission

Two out of three suspected suicide bombers lost their lives after an explosion near a mobile police unit in Jiddari area of Maiduguri, the Police Command in Borno, confirmed on Friday.

The third, a female, was arrested alive and subsequently handed over to the military for further necessary follow up actions, the Command said.

The command’s spokesman, Mr Victor Isuku, who confirmed the incident in a statement issued in Maiduguri, said the explosion occurred in the early hours of Friday.

The statement reads: “By 3.50 a.m today, the mobile police personnel on guard duty, opposite the Federal High Court in Jiddari sighted three suspected suicide bombers; comprising two females and a male running toward their sandbag.

“They ordered them to halt for questioning but they refused. In the process, one of the females detonated the Improvised Explosive Device (IED) strapped to her body, the IED killed her and one other male accomplice.

“The other female was arrested alive and subsequently handed over to the military for further necessary follow up actions,” he said.

Isuku added that the police had mobilised its bomb disposal personnel to further comb the area for possible IEDs.

“Police bomb disposal unit also mobilised to the scene to detonate unexploded IEDs on the bodies of the deceased suspected suicide bombers.

“The second bang was as a result of the demolition of the remaining IEDs by police EOD unit,” he said.

Isuku said normalcy has been restored to the area.