THERE was palpable fear among the residents of Maiduguri on Saturday after news emerged that terrorists were firing bombs from the outskirt of Ngomari Old Airport not far from Borno State University.
The bombs reportedly landed on several houses around the vicinity causing extensive damage that was difficult to quantify as of the time of writing this report.
The governor of Borno State, Babagana Zulum also visited the scene on Saturday morning, calling on the military to wake up to its duties just as he said he was setting up a committee to assess the damages.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) also reported that the Borno Police Command said a 6-month-old baby was injured when the terrorists fired five mortar bombs.
The state’s Commissioner of Police (CP), Abdul Umar disclosed that the terrorists fired the bombs from the outskirt of Ngomari Old Airport, behind Borno State University, adding that the mortars landed at different locations within the city and caused minor damages.
The CP said the first bomb landed inside a house belonging to one Ibrahim Abba-Fori, burning down a Honda Civic car while another destroyed a room in Alhaji Bukar Modu-Kullima house and injured the 6-month-old baby, Fatima Alhaji-Bukar.
“Another one landed at Gambari Njimtilo Ward near the house of Ahmed Yahaya, where the fence of the house was destroyed. The last explosive landed in a farm at Shuwarin Atom Village,” he said.
Umar explained that the 6-month-old victim was treated for minor injuries at the Umaru Shehu Ultra Modern Hospital and discharged.
No life was lost in the attack, the CP said, adding that more police and military personnel had been deployed to the outskirt of Maiduguri for monitoring and patrols.
A military spokesperson did not reply to calls or text messages seeking comment.
However, while speaking with Sunday Tribune, residents of 1000 Housing Estate said the incident occurred at around 6 a:m local time on Saturday, and that the rockets fell on a house but no one was inside.
According to a resident, Malam Bukar whose house was hit by the rockets: “I came back from mosque, then I was slumbering, so I heard a very loud explosion sound.
“I was terrified and my wife was screaming for help but thank God nothing bad happened to her.”
Sunday Tribune gathered that rockets also landed on two houses in Ngomari Airport ward but no life was lost.
An eyewitness, Usman Zanna of Gomari said, “the explosives landed in our area and we suspected it was launched by Boko Haram terrorists and we assumed the target is the Hajj Transit Camp where their former colleagues are being kept in the camp.
“You know we have been complaining about the continued camping of the former insurgents in the city. If you noticed, they have been trying to attack all communities where their ex-colleagues are kept. We complained about this for so long but no one is paying attention,” Usman Zanna disclosed.
Another source, an Air Force personnel confirmed that the insurgents had been attempting to infiltrate Maiduguri city but they could not gain access due to tight security, so they resolved to launch rocket explosives targeting the pilgrims camp.
“Since yesterday (Friday) in the evening they have been trying to penetrate Maiduguri city but the military kept frustrating them with the support of aircrafts they were chased away.
“So, I think they hid in the nearby bushes around the city and resorted to launching explosives targeting the Hajj camp. But everything is back to normal now,” the military source concluded.
No bomb explosion at Maiduguri airport-FAAN
The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) has declared untrue the insinuation that there was a bomb explosion at the Maiduguri airport.
The General Manager, Corporate Affairs, FAAN, Mrs Henrietta Yakubu, in a statement on Saturday described the report as false insisting there was neither an explosion nor any attack at the airport.
According to Yakubu: “The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) hereby wishes to notify passengers and the general public that there was neither an explosion nor intrusion at the Maiduguri airport. The airport was not targeted, and is not under any attack whatsoever”.
Meanwhile, the troops of Joint Task Force (JTF) North East, Operation Hadin Kai (OPHK) have responded effectively to the security breach by the suspected terrorists.
In a statement Director Army Public Relations, Brigadier General Onyema Nwachukwu, said “the sound of explosions at Gomari community and 1000 Housing Estate in Maiduguri was heard in the early hours of Saturday with shots fired into these communities by Boko Haram/ISWAP criminals.”
He added that “the incident has caused some level of damage and apprehension in residential areas. Although, no life was lost, sadly a minor sustained injury.”
Nwachukwu said ground troops in conjunction with the Air Component of OPHK responded swiftly and dominated the area with ground and air interdictions that successfully neutralized the threats and infiltration attempt by the terrorists.
He urged the general public not to panic as troops are on ground and aggressively dominating the city to effectively take out any perceived threat.
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