Nigeria: Over 136 dead in Boko Haram islamist group bomb attacks in Yobe and Borno states
No fewer than 136 people have been confirmed dead in the wake of the simultaneous bomb attacks and shootings in Damaturu, the Yobe State capital, at the weekend.
Sources with the National Emergency Management Agency, who visited the state hospital in Damaturu, confirmed that of the 136 who died, 135 were male and one was female. In addition, 17 people were injured, comprising 13 male and four female.
The wave of bomb attacks in Yobe and Borno States prompted President Goodluck Jonathan to cancel his scheduled trip to Bayelsa State to attend the wedding of his brother, in order to focus on the security situation in north-east Nigeria.
Although no group has claimed responsibility for the attacks, the bombings, targeted at the police headquarters, office of the Special Anti-terrorism Squad and that of the Nigeria Civil Defence Corps within the state secretariat complex in the Damaturu, were believed to have been carried out by about 300 men suspected to be members of Boko Haram.