Police confirm killing of 16 people in Borno triple suicide attacks

UN restates support to combat terrorism in Nigeria

The Borno State Police Command has said that 16 people were killed in Konduga town of the state when three suspected suicide bombers attacked a livestock market by detonating their strapped Improvised Explosives Devices (IEDs) on Tuesday.

The triple market bomb blasts also injured 82 traders and passers-by who have been taken to Maiduguri hospital for treatment.The state’s Police Commissioner, Damian Chukwu, who confirmed this yesterday in a text message sent to The Guardian, said that 16 people were killed and not 27 as reported in other media on Tuesday.

Chukwu said the police had deployed personnel of the Explosives Ordinance Department (EOD) to sanitise the affected area.Konduga Local Council headquarters, 40 kilometres from the state capital, had been attacked by Boko Haram insurgents for over two dozen times to infiltrate Maiduguri metropolis.

Meanwhile, Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN), António Guterres, has extended condolences to the government and Nigerians for the loss of lives during Tuesday’s terrorist attacks in Borno State, wishing speedy recovery to those injured.

Guterres, in a statement signed by his spokesman, Stéphane Dujarric, reiterated the UN solidarity and support to fight against terrorism and violent extremism in Nigeria.

He also condemned the series of terrorist attacks in Borno State and called for swift justice on those responsible for the repeated heinous acts in Nigeria and the neighbouring countries.He, however, renewed the UN commitment in supporting efforts within the framework of the counter-terrorism initiatives of the Lake Chad Basin Commission.