MAIDUGURI, 25 December 2021, (TON): Residents and a hospital source said “at least five people were killed and more than a dozen injured after several explosions near an air force base in Nigeria’s Maiduguri town, ahead of a visit by President Muhammadu Buhari.”
Maiduguri is the capital of the northeast state of Borno, the epicenter of a 12-year Islamist insurgency. The city and surrounding areas are routinely attacked by militants.
Four people were killed in Maiduguri’s Gomari Ayafe area, a few hundred metres from an air force base, residents said. Buhari landed at the base less than an hour after explosions were heard in neighbourhoods near the base.
A Reuters witness saw two bodies, including that of a child and several injured people being taken to hospital in open trucks. Three houses were extensively damaged and residents suspected Islamist militants.