No fewer than 24 persons were killed and several others injured by a female suicide bomber on Friday night at Konduga Local Government Area of Borno.

ASP Nahun Daso, the Borno Police Command spokesperson, who confirmed this yesterday said the improvised explosive device (IED) was detonated at a food joint, where the attacker targeted residents, who had gathered in a large number to buy food.

Daso said the body of the suicide bomber was severely dismembered by the blast, with only the head recovered from the scene.

“Following the incident, a joint response team comprising the Police Explosive Ordnance Disposal – Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear (EOD-CBRN) Unit, Military, Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF), and local hunters was deployed to the scene,” he added.

The spokesperson said that the area was cordoned off and thoroughly searched for other possible explosive devices, but none was found.

“The injured victims were evacuated to the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital (UMTH), where they are currently receiving treatment, while the remains of the deceased were also deposited at the hospital mortuary.

“The victims were confirmed dead by medical personnel on duty,” he said

Daso said efforts were ongoing to profile the victims and contact their relatives for proper identification and burial in line with their religious practices.

He said that security had been reinforced in Konduga and surrounding communities to prevent further attacks and restore public confidence.

Konduga town is just is about 40kilometres away from Maiduguri, the Borno State capital.

A resident of Konduga, Mallam Bulama Abubakar, said over 20 people were killed with scores injured in the blast that occurred at a food joint in our town.”

“As I am speaking, we just finished the funeral prayers of 12 persons killed by the bomb blast, while several others sustained various degrees of injury”, Abubakar said.

The Borno Police Command confirmed suicide attack by a female terrorist at a local food joint near a cinema in Konduga town of Konduga Local Government Area of the states and said only 10 people were killed.

The Commands, Public Relations Officer ( PPRO), ASP Kenneth Daso said:”We received a distress call yesterday evening at about 10:pm. A female suicide bomber carrying Improvised Explosive Devices, IEDs sneaked into a crowd at a local food market and detonated her explosives, leaving 10 people dead, whole others injured.”

“Security agencies were able to condone off the area, evacuated the victims, while the injured ones have been rushed to hospitals in Maiduguri for treatment.”, Daso said.

“Let me use this opportunity to call on the members of the public to continue give useful information to the police and other security agencies on the movement of any suspected criminals, as the war against terrorists should not be left in the hands of security agencies alone”. he added.