PUNCH Online reported that a deadly bomb attack killed at least 18 persons and maimed many others on Saturday at a wedding ceremony in Tashan Mararaba, Gwoza town, Borno State.
A security analyst and counter-insurgency expert, Zagazola Makama, told PUNCH Online that the bomber, later identified as a young lady in her early twenties, detonated her explosive device in the middle of the gathering, causing chaos and destruction.
Intelligence sources told Makama that the victims, who were all civilians, were returning from a wedding celebration when the attack occurred near a busy motorpark.
Emergency services rushed to the scene to rescue those injured and transport them to the hospitals in Gwoza.
Saturday’s bomb attack is the first in years since Boko Haram began bombing raids across the country in 2009. Notable among such raids was the bombing of the United Nations building in 2010 and the busy Nyanya motor park both in Abuja, in 2014.
In a statement issued on Sunday by his spokesman, Ajuri Ngelale, the President described the attacks as desperate acts of terror and a clear manifestation of the pressure mounted against terrorists and the success achieved in degrading their capacity to launch offensives.
The President declared that the purveyors of violence will be punished and that the cowardly attacks are only but isolated episode as his government will not allow the nation to slither into an era of fear, tears, sorrow, and blood.
The statement added, “The President stated that his administration is taking necessary measures to secure citizens, emphasizing that efforts will be redoubled to ensure that those who trouble the nation, dispatching precious lives, and disrupting law and order are completely removed.
“President Tinubu condoles with the victims of the attacks, the families of the deceased, as well as the government and people of Borno State.”
