Tuesday’s explosion at a soccer viewing center in northeastern Nigeria has claimed the lives of 21 people, a hospital source said Wednesday. Another 27 were injured in the blast during the showing of a World Cup match, said the source from Sani Abacha Specialist Hospital in Damaturu. He spoke on condition of anonymity, because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
“All the victims are young men and boys. They sustained burns, ruptured tissues, shattered bones,” he said.
A police official placed the death toll lower Wednesday, saying 10 people had died. But the hospital spokesman said its count was based on the number of bodies delivered to the facility’s morgue.
The incident occurred on the outskirts of Damaturu, in Yobe state, the sources said. The explosives had been concealed in an abandoned motorized rickshaw outside the center. People were watching the Brazil-Mexico match.
“Our men have deployed to the scene but it’s too early for us to give details, said Yobe state police commissioner Sanusi Ruf’ai.
Volatile northeastern Nigeria is the home of the notoriousBoko Haram group, the militant Islamists who abducted scores of schoolgirls in April.
Maina Ularamu, a local official in Madagali, in Adamawa state, told CNN last week that people in the town, which has been the target of previous Boko Haram attacks, had been warned against watching World Cup matches.
“Letters have been distributed to viewing centers in Adamawa state warning people not to gather to watch the World Cup games,” she said. “We suspect these letters to be from Boko Haram militants. People are very afraid and are not leaving their homes.”
To try to combat the growing threat from Boko Haram, the Nigerian government placed Yobe, Borno and Adamawa states under a state of emergency last year.
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Scores of football lovers were on Tuesday feared killed in a blast that rocked a football viewing centre in Damaturu, Yobe State.
The victims were watching one of the World Cup matches involving Brazil and Mexico national teams when the explosion occurred some minutes after 8pm.
Reuters reported that there was no immediate word on casualties from security operatives. However, Channels Television reported that many were feared dead while scores were injured.
The injured were taken to the Sani Abacha Specialist Hospital in Damaturu, according to the Lagos-based television station.
Meanwhile, the Defence Headquarters has said that a wanted top terror suspect is among the 486 suspected Boko Haram members arrested by soldiers in Abia State.
The Director of Defence Information, Maj.-Gen. Chris Olukolade, in an electronic mail on Tuesday, said the terror kingpin was identified during the screening of the suspects by the Army and other security agencies.
The statement read, “A terror kingpin in the list of wanted terrorists of security forces in Nigeria has been detected in the ongoing screening of the 486 suspects nabbed while travelling in over 33 Toyota Hiace Hummer buses at night along the Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway last Sunday.
“So far, other security agencies, including the para-military agencies have joined the screening exercise to ascertain the status of the remaining suspects.
“Those identified as possible security risk or illegal immigrants are expected to be identified for further action.
“The identified terror kingpin has been taken into custody. Further development will be communicated to you in due course.”
Olukolade added that the focus of the ongoing screening was to identify those that could be considered possible security risk or illegal immigrants.
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