Borno’s bastion of tertiary education, the University of Maiduguri has been hit, again, by two suicide bombers, the second time within a week, by attackers believed to be of the Boko Haram stock.
Within a space of 70 minutes, the two blasts resounded within the University of Maiduguri area, sending chills down the spine of residents of the area.
There is yet no official confirmation of casualty, though the media is speculating that three bombers were killed while others were treated. But two soldiers and local security personnel lost their lives in last week’s attack.
Residents of the university neighbourhood have been making efforts to relocate from the area as the insurgent group, which name, Boko Haram, loosely translated, means, “western education is forbidden” targets the oldest and one of the highest citadel of western learning in the north eastern flank of Nigeria.
The resurgence of the bombings, shortly after the group allegedly showed goodwill by releasing 82 Chibok school young ladies is confusing analysts of the macabre drama in the State, leading some to suggest that there is more than meets the eye.
But for a resident, who fears to be named, his reading is that “they are using the girls to get back their commanders to regroup” adding that there is no goodwill in the release of the girls. “They are children of perdition who will not repent.That is the reality.”
A source said that their latest strategy is to penetrate internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps “and get back at the returning population.”
At the Maiduguri university, a source prayed for the protection of God. The Student Union Government President, Comrade Abu Hanifa Babati, is being quoted as saying the second blast heard a little after 12:05 a.m. appeared to be around BOT Hostel which is a female hostel.
The first one was within the area housing the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, which lost one of its leading professors to a suicide bombing in a mosque months ago.
Security has been beefed around school environment as rescue personnel go to work, as it emerged that one of the bombers, ignited his explosive device as soldiers approached and shot at him.