At least 16 people were killed and 35 others injured as a male suicide bomber detonated explosive devices in a mosque near a busy market in Maiduguri. The attack took place during the 03:30pm prayer time, according to the police and witnesses at the time.
A trader told SaharaReporters that ''Red Cross and other rescue teams evacuated least 16 bodies from the site, with many unidentifiable remains from victims of the blast.”
An official from the State Specialists Hospital, located few meters away from the scene, confirmed that the hospital received 16 corpses but that the deaths toll may rise because of the number of critically injured patients.
Bicycle trader, Bukar Abdul, arrived at the scene shortly after the blast and said that he observed the bomber stroll to the mosque. He told SaharaReporters that ”he [the bomber] was at entrance of the mosque when he blew up himself, he didn't get access to the main mosque or else the figure would have been higher.”
Borno State Governor Kashim Shettima reportedly visited the scene at 05:25pm where he was briefed that 16 people that lost their lives in the suicide attack on worshipers.