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Maiduguri — Nigeria yesterday imposed tight movement restrictions in the restive northeast after Boko Haram bombings that killed more than 100 raised fears of fresh attacks over the Eid al-Adha festival.
The military said the use of all vehicles would be banned throughout Borno state during the Muslim festival, which is known as Sallah in Nigeria and marked with two days’ public holiday from today.
“All movements using vehicles, bicycles and animals like horses, camels and donkeys in Maiduguri will be restricted as from Wednesday 17:00,” said army spokesperson Tukur Gusau.
“Similarly, all vehicular movements into and out of Maiduguri . . . will also be restricted within the period until further notice,” he added in a statement.
Only ambulances, police and other essential services will be able to use vehicles during the ban. Everyone else will have to walk.
The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) meanwhile announced 40,000 personnel would be deployed across the country “to provide maximum security” during the festival.
Federal police chief Solomon Arase promised “robust security” in “all nooks and crannies in the country”.
Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state, was on Sunday hit by a series of bomb blasts, including at a mosque where dozens of worshippers were killed by a female suicide bomber.
The Borno state police put the death toll at 54 but three sources at two hospitals in the city said later they had received 117 bodies at their mortuaries.
The army blamed the attack on Boko Haram, calling it a sign of “desperation” by the Islamist militants as a military counter-offensive squeezes them out of captured territory and camps.
The security restrictions recognise that Boko Haram has previously hit “soft” civilian targets such as crowded markets, mosques, churches and bus stations. The NSCDC said places of worships, markets and schools would be protected as well as critical infrastructure such as telecommunications masts and oil pipelines.
“I’m afraid. I’m not going to any mosque to observe the Eid prayers because nobody is sure. Anything can happen,” said resident Sanusi Modibbo.
“The prayer is mandatory. I will just remain at home and slaughter my ram at the appointed time.”
At the city’s Monday Market, which has been hit repeatedly by suicide and bomb attacks, trader Yusuf Abuya said he had been closed all week.
“I deliberately locked my shop and forfeited the Sallah sales because I’m afraid of the unknown,” he said. “The terrorists always look for soft targets and I don’t want to take unnecessary risks,” he said.
Meanwhile, the death toll from a series of bomb blasts blamed on Boko Haram in Maiduguri in northeastern Nigeria has risen to at least 117, hospital sources said on Tuesday, more than twice the official tally.
A total of 72 dead were registered at the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital, while another 45 were taken to the mortuary at the Borno State Specialist Hospital, three medical staff said.
Borno state’s capital has been hit repeatedly since President Muhammadu Buhari came to power on May 29, vowing to crush the insurgency. But Sunday night’s attacks were the deadliest so far.
Nigeria’s military claims the Islamist militants are a spent force and that troops have driven them from their camps and occupied territory in the remote region.
But the blasts underlined the threat the group still poses with its guerrilla-style tactics against “soft” civilian targets.
Borno police on Monday said that 54 people died and 90 were injured in the bombings, which hit worshippers at a mosque, football fans watching a televised match and bystanders.
Locals disputed the figures, saying at least 85 died and that some people had taken loved ones killed in the blasts directly for burial rather than to hospitals.
“Sixty-nine dead bodies were brought here and three other people died while receiving treatment,” an orthopaedic doctor at the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital said on Tuesday.
“I’m afraid that there are some victims with grievous injuries who may likely require referral to other specialised hospitals.”
A mortuary worker at the hospital confirmed the tally. “Some bereaved families have come and claimed the bodies of their loved ones but we still have many here,” he said.
At the city’s State Specialist Hospital, a senior nursing officer said 45 bodies were brought to the mortuary.
“Most of the bodies were unrecognisable because of the burns the victims sustained,” he said.
“Most of the 43 people that died in the mosque were brought here.”
More than 70 others who were injured were also brought for treatment, he added.
The sources requested anonymity as they were not authorised to speak to the media.— AFP
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