“A
middle-aged woman approached the site where chicken sellers attend to customers
but vigilantes who stood nearby insisted on checking the luggage she was
carrying,” said witness Ahmad Sanusi. “The woman refused, arguing that what she
held were her wares.
While the argument ensued, some people gathered at the
scene and that was when she detonated the explosive,” he said.
The
Monday Market was hit last Tuesday by two women who detonated explosives hidden
under their hijabs. The same market was attacked on July 1 and at least 15
people died. A police bomb squad on Friday defused a suspected
remote-controlled improvised explosive device buried in the dirt near another
market in Maiduguri.
Boko
Haram militants were suspected and it was thought the bomb was intended to hit
worshippers at a local mosque.
Two
suspected female suicide bombers were arrested in Maiduguri last week. It was
not immediately clear whether the woman in Monday’s incident was a suicide
bomber or if she was merely carrying explosives hidden in her luggage.
But
another witness, Goni Abba, reported a second explosion just seconds after the
first. Nearby buildings were destroyed and there were reports of deaths and
injuries, he added.
There
was no immediate official confirmation of fatalities but the police, army and
Red Cross were at the scene. Another local resident who was in the area at the
time said: “I was at the Borno state television station, which is just opposite
the Monday Market, to see a friend. “I heard an explosion and we were told that
it happened at the market. I’m now in his office because it’s not safe to
venture outside,” said the resident, who asked not to be identified.
The
blasts happened as Boko Haram fighters launched a dawn raid on the capital of
neighbouring Yobe state, Damaturu, apparently targeting the police.
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