Eighteen people lost their lives and many more injured after female suicide bombers attacked a wedding ceremony and a hospital in Gwoza, Borno State.
Borno State police spokesperson Nahum Kenneth Daso said the blasts occurred Saturday at about 3.45pm. In one of the attacks, a woman carrying a baby on her back “detonated an improvised explosive device (IED) she had on her at a crowded motor park”, Daso said.
Nineteen “seriously injured” people were taken to the regional capital, Maiduguri, while 23 others were awaiting evacuation.
Speaking on the tragedy, Sunday President Bola Tinubu said in a statement made available by his media adviser Ajuri Ngelale, that there would be a strong response to such cowardly attacks by terrorists and criminal elements.
“The attacks are desperate acts of terror and a clear manifestation of the pressure mounted against terrorists and the success achieved in degrading their capacity to launch offensives.
“The purveyors of wanton violence shall have a certain encounter with justice, and that these cowardly attacks are only but isolated episodes as his government will not allow the nation to slither into an era of fear, tears, sorrow, and blood.
“This administration is taking necessary measures to secure citizens, emphasizing that efforts will be redoubled to ensure that those who trouble the nation, dispatching precious lives, and disrupting law and order are completely removed.”
