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Baku-APA. At least 80 people were killed and about 150 injured in multiple bomb attacks in northeastern Nigeria's Borno state on Sunday evening, police and witnesses said on Monday, APA reports quoting Reuters.
The state is the birthplace of the insurgency waged by Boko Haram and has been the focus of attacks by suspected members of the militant Islamist group that have killed more than 800 people since President Muhammadu Buhari took office on May 29.
Three bomb blasts in the state capital Maiduguri around 7:30 p.m. (1830 GMT) left at least 54 people dead and 90 injured. Around two hours later, two bombs exploded at a checkpoint some 135 km away at a market in the town of Monguno.
Locals residents and a hospital source said that attack killed 27 people and injured 62 others.
No one has claimed responsibility for the attacks but they bore the hallmarks of the jihadi sect, which has been trying to carve out a state in the northeast of Africa's most populous country since 2009.
"A suspected Boko Haram suicide bomber detonated IEDs (improvised explosive devices) at a mosque in Ajilari and some insurgents also threw IEDs at a viewing center," Victor Isuku, a police spokesman in Maiduguri, said of the first attacks.
"Total casualty figure is now 54," he said.
A Nigerian army spokesman said on Sunday that three bombs had gone off.
Local residents said a suicide bomber hit a market at Monguno, killing at least 27 people.
"I counted 27 dead bodies from the scene," said Malum Sunoma, a local resident who helped with rescues. He was speaking on the phone from a hospital where his brother was being treated.
"Five vehicles conveyed 62 injured persons from the Monguno attack to the specialist hospital in Maiduguri," said a doctor, who spoke on condition on anonymity.
The Boko Haram insurgency has killed thousands and displaced 2.1 million people.
Buhari's March election victory owed much to his vow to defeat the insurgents, but there was a spike in attacks across northern Nigeria in the two months following his inauguration and Maiduguri was hit on a near weekly basis.
A new offensive launched by the Nigerian army to clear Boko Haram out of more towns over the last month has led to a sharp drop in the frequency of attacks in Borno, the worst affected by the insurrection, and neighboring states.
Maiduguri has been free of attacks for about a month. It was last hit by a bomb at the end of July and there was a skirmish with suspected Boko Haram militants on the outskirts of the city in mid-August.
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05:18
Over 50 killed NE Nigeria multiple blasts
Baku-APA. Death toll from multiple bombings that hit Maiduguri in northeast Nigeria's restive Borno state capital has exceeded 50, APA reports quoting Xinhua
Most of the journalists who spoke with Xinhua on phone said the death toll might be higher as some other victims were taken to the Umaru Shehu hospital, where the casualty figures are presently not clear.
Security sources said the first explosion was targeted at a Mosque in Ajilari cross at the time of the late evening prayers on Sunday.
Another bomb is said to have exploded at a mini business district and the third explosion occurred in a game center in the area where people pay to play computer games and charge their mobile phones.
The three blasts come a day after a new audio message purportedly from Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau accused the Army of lying about successes against the militants.
Reacting to the audio message, Col. Sani Usman, Nigeria's military spokesperson, describes Shekau's comments as "the rant of a drowning man", adding that efforts are on to ascertain if that is Shekau's voice.
He said the Nigerian military would not be deterred in its determined efforts of defeating Boko Haram terrorists in the shortest possible time.
The military spokesperson added that the attacks signify high level of desperation on the part of the Boko Haram terrorists.
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