Furniture maker, son, three others killed in Maiduguri explosions

At least, five people were killed in triple explosions that rocked Maiduguri, the Borno State capital on Sallah eve.

Dozens also sustained injuries from the blasts.

According to an eyewitness, the incidents occurred at around Custom area, along Tashan Bama road, at about 05:47 on Thursday evening.

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The Commissioner of Police in the state, Mohammed Ndatsu, confirmed the attack and the casualty figure to newsmen.

Although it was not clear what explosive was used for the attack, the police commissioner said only a bomb specialist could explain that.

He added that the attack was carried out by insurgents.

The General Officer Commanding (GOC) 7 Division of the Nigerian Army, Brigadier General Khalifa Ibrahim, has visited the scenes of the blasts for an on the spot assessment.

While the explosives were not person-borne, the first reportedly landed at a shop in the commercial area, killing a furniture maker and his son.

Another explosive was also reported to have landed in a house at Gwange area while a child and a goat were killed.

Two other people were struck in a blast at the third location, bringing the number of those killed to five.

Officials of the Borno State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) have evacuated the bodies of the victims from the scenes of the blasts.

Over the years, members of the Boko Haram terrorist group and Islamic State’s West Africa Province – non state actors – have carried out such attacks in the state, killing thousands of people in the process.

Governor of the state, Babagana Zulum, on Wednesday, escaped an ambush by gunmen suspected to be Boko Haram members.

One of the aides of the governor confirmed this to Daily Trust.

The aide said the governor’s convoy was attacked when he was returning from Baga where he had distributed food items to Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).