Damaturu Bomb Blast Update: How 10 Year-old Suicide Bomber Killed 15 People Today

The police in Yobe have confirmed that the suicide bomber who killed 15 people in an explosion in Damaturu, Yobe State, was about 10 years old.

The police spokesperson, Toyin Gbadegeshin, who addressed journalists in Yobe, said the girl detonated the explosive device at the gate of the market, killing herself and 14 others.

He said, “a female suicide bomber, aged about 10 years, detonated the explosive device at a crowded main entrance of the popular Sunday Market, killing 15 people, including 10 females and five males, while injuring 47 others.”

He said five other units of undetonated explosives were recovered at the scene of the explosion.

The police spokesperson said that suicide bombers used mortars similar to those recovered from suspected bombers on the Maiduguri-Damaturu highway on Monday. Three policemen and five suicide bombers were killed in the Monday incident.

Mr. Gbadegeshin urged the public to be cautious and remain observant of suspected persons, bags and movements around their environments.

At least 23 people have been killed in two separate suicide bomb attacks in Damaturu in the last one week.