TheCable

At least 50 people lost their lives when a bomb exploded in a busy meat market in Maiduguri, capital of Borno state, on Tuesday.

A military source told Reuters that the bomb was concealed under a butcher’s table in the market.

Shoppers and travellers were among those affected in the incident, which happened around 1pm.

Lawal Kawu, a paramedic, said 31 charred bodies had been evacuated to the teaching hospital in Maiduguri, and several other people were brought in with severe injuries.

“It shook our school building and I had to run away. I saw military vehicles with soldiers moving toward the area,” Abubakar Mohammed, a college student few metres away from the blast scene, told Reuters.

Maiduguri has come under series of attacks since Friday when President Muhammadu Buhari directed the relocation of the military command centre to the town until insurgency is brought under control.

At least 27 people lost their lives while several others sustained injuries in separate attacks carried out by suspected insurgents in Maiduguri on Saturday.

A day after that, four people sustained injuries during an explosion at a market in the Gamboru area of the town.