Female Suicide Bomber Hits Potiskum Market

Eleven people were confirmed dead, with 66 others critically injured, as a female suicide bomber detonated an improvised explosive device at the GSM Market in Potiskum, Yobe State, on Sunday.

Those injured are at emergency unit of General Hospital, Potiskum.

A nurse at the hospital told the Nigerian Tribune that the injured were in critical conditions and needed immediate attention.

According to an eyewitness, the explosion would have killed many, but some people had sighted the woman and escaped before she could detonate the bomb.

A trader and GSM repairer, Mallam Alkali Musa, told the Nigerian Tribune that “it was a lucky day for me. I would have been among the dead as it happened near my shed. I went to get change for a customer, before I could return, the customer had been reduced to pieces. I escaped by sheer luck.”

Alkali said the woman, before detonating the bomb, was shouting “Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar,” adding that as a result, people scampered for safety in different directions.

“Before I could ask what was happening, the explosion went off and I found myself on the ground, scampering for safety. It was sad that the person I went to get change for was killed,” he added.

Attempt to contact the state Police Commissioner, Markus Danladi, failed, as his line was busy as of the time of filing this report.

However, a police source told the Nigerian Tribune that they evacuated 86 people, both dead and injured, to the General Hospital.

“We just evacuated, we did not separate the injured from the dead, but we took all, 86 in number, to the emergency ward where they are being separated and the injured receiving medical attention,” he added.


Source: Nigerian Tribune
Image: Adamu Adamu/Assciated Press