Maiduguri explosion: Remain calm, Army tells residents

The Nigerian Army on Saturday allayed fears of Maiduguri residents, following the explosions that rocked some communities in the Borno State capital.

Daily Trust had reported how the sound of explosions at Gomari community and 1000 Housing Estate in Maiduguri in the early hours of Saturday created tensions.

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Reacting to the incident, the Nigerian Army confirmed that some shots fired into these communities by suspected some Boko Haram terrorists and members of Islamic State of West Africa Province (ISWAP) criminals.

In a statement the Army’s spokesman, Brig.-Gen. Onyema Nwachukwu, said the terrorists made futile attempt to maintain potency with explosions in the outskirt of the capital city.

Nwachukwu said that troops of the Joint Task Force (JTF) North East, Operation Hadin Kai have responded effectively to the security breach, assuring the residents not to panic.

“This unfortunate incident has caused some level of damage and apprehension in residential areas. Although, no life was lost, sadly a minor sustained injury,” he said.

The Army spokesman said that ground troops, in conjunction with the Air Component of OPHK responded swiftly and dominated the area with ground and air interdiction that successfully neutralized the threats and infiltration attempt by the terrorists.

“The good people of Maiduguri are equally enjoined to go about their normal socio-economic activities and provide actionable information on the movement of these criminal elements,” he said.