Scores were killed Friday morning in Damaturu, Yobe state when a bomb exploded at the Eid prayer ground.
Multiple explosions rocked Damaturu, the Yobe State capital on Friday morning.
The explosions at Phase 1 Eid praying ground was said to have been triggered off by a female suicide bomber.
An eyewitness has been quoted as saying that he counted at least five dead bodies at the scene. The fatalities, he further said may be more.
As a result praying grounds in the City are all deserted as they have been condoned off by security operatives and men of the anti-bomb squad
The explosions are coming on a day when the new Chief of Army Staff, Major General Tukur Buratai declared that he will spend his Sallah celebrations in Damaturu.
The attack comes barely 24 hours after No fewer than 50 people lost their lives, and many others injured, in a twin blast at Gombe central market on Thursday evening.
An eye witness, Malam Musa Mohammed, who is an orange seller, said that the first bomb exploded at exactly 5:20 pm, and seconds later, and a few meters away, a second one went off.
According to him, the number of dead bodies he saw was about 50, though many of these were in pieces.
A member of the Nigeria Red Cross, who pleaded anonymity, also told newsmen that the emergency team had counted 48 bodies, and had deposited them at the mortuaries of the Specialist Hospital and the Federal Teaching Hospital, both in Gombe.
Confirming the incidence to newsmen, Mr Kudu Nma, the Gombe State commissioner of police, said there was a bomb blast, either from a suicide bomber, or from an IED kept somewhere.
According to Nma, the bomb exploded at the central market, Sabon Layi, at the section for the sale of clothes and shoes.
“People were busy shopping, preparatory to sallah festival,”, he said, adding that the number of the dead had not been ascertained.
“As you can see, people are busy trying to save the lives of the injured; for now, we cannot tell you the number that have died”.
He said the police had cordoned off the area to prevent looting by hoodlums.
Nma called on the public to continue to maintain vigilance, and report any suspicious movement or person to the security agencies.
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