Troops arrest Mubi bomb blast suspect

  Death toll rises as gunmen burn school

Sadiq Abubakar, Maiduguri, Ibrahim Abdul’Aziz, Yola

The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) yesterday said that the soldiers have arrested a suspect in Sunday’s bomb attack in the Kabang community of Mubi, Adamawa state, after observant members of the public had confirmed sighting him alight from the vehicle used in conveying the bomb shortly before the explosion.
In a press statement made available to reporters in Maiduguri, the Director of Defence Information, Major Gen. Chris Olukolade, said: “A key suspect in the terror bomb explosion that rocked the Kabang community in Mubi, Adamawa State on Sunday evening has been arrested by troops who cordoned the area in a swift response to the explosion.”

Kolade said so far 18 persons were confirmed dead while 19 others were wounded in the explosion, adding that the wounded were receiving medical attention in hospitals.
Blueprint, however, gathered that the death toll in the Mubi attack has continued to rise, with locals and hospital sources saying that nearly 40 people were killed and several others were injured.

An official of the Cottage Hospital in Mubi who didn’t want to be named said: “As I am talking to you now our mortuary was overcrowded, likewise other facilities, which made relatives of some of the patients to them to other health facilities.’’
Another resident, Mr Joseph Simon, also said: “I saw over thirty corpses littered. Even this morning at the scene of the blast we saw disembodied human parts on the ground; it’s so terrible.’’
A  survivor of the blast who claimed to lose two relatives to  the blast said about 45 people were killed.
But when contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer in the state Police Command, DSP Othman Abubakar, insisted that the number of fatalities increased as two more people died, making the number of deaths to 16 while the four people receiving treatment at the cottage hospital had been discharged.

He said the police were intensifying efforts to find those behind the attack as well as putting up measures towards the prevention of further attacks.
Abubakar further advised people to be security-conscious and report any suspicious moves to security agencies.
In a related development reports indicated that some gunmen suspected to be members of Boko Haram had attacked school at Bali, in Demsa local government area.
Though no casualty was recorded, the gunmen had set the school ablaze before fleeing on motorcycles.
The police were yet to confirmed the report last night. “No, for now I can’t  confirm that, but we are investigating the matter,’’ said the police spokesman.
Adamawa state Governor, Murtala Nyako, yesterday condemned the Mubi attack and described it as an attack on all of Nigerians, promising to foot the medical bills of the victims.

“Attack on Mubi is an attack on Nigeria. Mubi accommodates different ethnic groups from many parts of the country,” he said.
Nyako, who spoke through his Director of Press, Malam Ahmad Sajoh, said there was no reason innocent people should be killed.
He said the state government would continue to work with security agencies to bring an end to the attacks.
“We really regret that this has happened and we are calling on all the citizens of Adamawa, particularly the people of Mubi, to exercise restraint.”
He said the state government would put up mechanisms to access the situation in order to know the areas in which it would provide relief package to the affected people.
“We are trying to assess the situation to see the extent of lives lost, injuries and damages to property so that we can see how to come to the aid of the affected victims.”

Also reacting, the Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri, said the bomb blast was an attack on civilisation which should be condemned by all well-meaning persons.
Meanwhile, Defence Headquarters spokesman, Major-Gen. Kolade, also yesterday revealed that patrol troops have successfully repelled an ambush in Buratai community in Biu, a town in Borno state.
He said: “The troops who fell into the ambush laid by the terrorists while on  patrol, engaged the terrorists in a decisive fire fight killing four of them and capturing one alive.
“Also in Kawuri in Borno state, troops in a patrol have killed five terrorists in a shootout. The troops also captured two AK 47 rifles and two vehicles used by the terrorists.”