During the early hours of this morning, three bombs went off in the northern Nigerian town of Chibok, killing about 10 people and injuring many more. BBC reports that out of five suicide bombers who came into the town, three were able to detonate their explosives while the other two are still at large.
According to an eyewitness, the bombers are not residents of Chibok as they came into the town from Askira local government in a small red golf. Security officials have apprehended the driver of the car.
One of the bombs was detonated at a weekly market, while another went off at a security check point. It is still unclear where the third was detonated. It is important to remember that more than 200 girls were kidnapped from this same town by the notorious terror group, Boko Haram, in 2014 and the girls are still yet to be found. The #bringbackourgirls movement, a campaign group dedicated to the return of the girls, was among the first to publicise these attacks on Twitter today.
Breaking: Bomb blast reported in Chibok in two separate locations. Casualty figures are still awaited.
— #BringBackOurGirls (@BBOG_Nigeria) January 27, 2016
A village elder in Chibok, Mallam Ayuba Chibok, said the people are still presently in shock from the attack, as it happened very unexpectedly. Reports say the attack happened despite the presence of military forces, suggesting that the officers were not alert. It unclear whether or not President Buhari, who is presently in Kenya to attend its Army memorial service, has heard about the attack and although it has not been confirmed that Boko Haram carried out these attacks, it is suspected that they are involved.
This news is a major setback for President Buhari, who declared last year that Boko Haram was “technically defeated”. The attack, which is happening where the war on terrorism seemingly became intense, is surely a signal from Boko Haram that it is far from over.
More updates coming soon.
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