17th July, 2015
The twin bomb blasts in Damaturu, Yobe state this morning happened at the praying ground, where Muslim worshippers had gathered for the Eid-el-Fitri prayers.
Witnesses said between 5 and 10 people were killed..
“I was sitting down when I heard two bomb blasts. I saw the bodies of five people and many were injured,” said Muhammad Adamu, a businessman who was at the praying area, beside the main road leading to the centre of the predominantly Muslim city, when the blasts happened at around 8 a.m. (0700 GMT).
Another witness, Muslim preacher Ustaz Abdullahi, also said he saw five people killed.
But an aid worker gave a much higher figure of 10 killed.
“We have evacuated ten corpses from Phase I area opposite the SSS office which was attacked by the bomb blast this morning.
“The bomb was targeted at the prayer ground in the area and several persons that were injured were taken to General Hospital.”
Nobody immediately claimed responsibility for the blasts, but such incidents are usually blamed on Islamist group Boko Haram.
On Thursday, some 50 people were killed in bomb attacks at a market in Gombe, around 200 km (120 miles) from Damaturu.
Damaturu city had two suicide bomb attacks in May.