The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) on Monday denied the reported suicide attack on one of its camp in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital.
Speaking to journalists, the Zonal Coordinator, North-East of the agency, Alhaji Mohammed Kanar said the bomb explosion was nearby the Dalori internally displaced persons (IDPs) camp and not within the camp.
According to him, some people fleeing from the attacked town, Dalori, some meters away from the camp wanted to flee into the IDP camps but since it was after 6pm, they were not allowed to enter in line with the camp rule.
He said they decided to take refugee under the tree and that some moments later, a blast was heard, killing some of them.
He lamented that a suicide bomber might have infiltrated the gathering.
On the number of casualties, Kanar said 65 persons had so far died from the unfortunate incident, which equally left 136 persons injured.
He disclosed that emergency workers had to work all through the night of Saturday to evacuate the corpses and to assist the injured to the hospital.
Kanar said normalcy had returned to the area as those that fled in the wake of the attack had returned.
He noted that NEMA had deployed needed materials to the attacked communities to begin their reconstruction.
Comments