A bomb blast on Monday hit Kasuwan Shanu area of Maiduguri, the Borno State capital.
Confirming the incident, spokesman for the Borno State Police Command, DSP Victor Isuku, said the explosion which occurred around 8:30AM involved two suicide bombers, male and female.
The female was shot just as she detonated her improvised Explosive Device (IED), killing only herself while the male suspect was arrested and his IED defused by the police command.
According to intelligence reports, five suicide bombers infiltrated Maiduguri on Christmas day while the Chief of Army Staff and government officials were reopening roads leading to towns in northern Borno State, northeast Nigeria.
The attack follows the death of two suspected female suicide bombers who died in a failed attack in Maiduguri, the state’s capital.
The police spokesman said in a statement that one of the suicide bombers detonated an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) strapped to her body, killing herself and her accomplice whose IED vest did not explode.
These attacks are coming shortly after the military had promised that the era of insecurity, especially the Boko Haram insurgency would be a thing of the past before the end of December 2016.
Fall Of Sambisa
Governor Kashim Shettima had also said that there was no Christmas and New Year gift to the people of Borno State better than the fall of the Sambisa forest, the stronghold of the Boko Haram insurgents.
The governor described year 2016 as one that witnessed a major breakthrough in the ongoing fight against the terrorists, adding that the year was so far his best in the last five years since he assumed office on May 29, 2011.
“Since I became the Governor of Borno State in over five years, this is the best Christmas season I have witnessed. This is the best December I have witnessed and the year 2016 is my best year so far as Governor of Borno State,” he said.