Scores of worshippers were reportedly killed following a twin bomb blast early this morning on a mosque in Maiduguri, Borno State.
The explosion went off at about 5am at a mosque in the Old GRA, where muslims had gathered to perform the first congressional morning prayers.
However, details of casualties are still sketchy at the time of filing this report. Security officials have cordoned the area while rescue and aide workers are trying to evacuate corpses and injured victims.
PRNigeria, an agency that distributes press statements on behalf of Nigerian security and rescue agencies, said rescuers from the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) had so far evacuated six dead bodies from the scene of the attack.
The PRNigeria gathered that the incident occurred during the early Morning Subhi Prayer at a mosque behind Magistrate Court Polo Area in Maiduguri.
The agency said “the explosion was carried out by a suspected lone suicide bomber whose two accomplices escaped, when some vigilant members of the community accosted them on their suspicious movements”.
It quoted a senior health official as confirming that six bodies had been deposited in the mortuary, while about 17 other injured victims were being treated at the Specialist Hospital and the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital.
Maiduguri and mosques in particular have seen an increase in Boko Haram attacks recent times, even as the military said it is doing all it can to curb the menace and threat from this group.
