Two dogs and three suicide bombers died yesterday in two separate attempts by the suicide bombers to detonate bombs at the Moloi area of Maiduguri, the Borno State capital.
The foiled attacks were the latest in a string of deadly attacks on soft targets by the Boko Haram group in the North East.
The Chairman of the Borno State Emergency Management Agency, Mr Fatomi Ahmed, said that the agency had deployed a rescue team to evacuate debris at the scene of one of the foiled attacks in Moloi general area.
Spokesman of the Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF), Malam Bello Danbatta, said that the dogs and the bombers died instantly in the attacks but that no other life was lost.
An eyewitness, Mr Rilwan Isah, told NAN that persistent barking by the two dogs prevented the suicide bombers from gaining entry into the hospital premises.
He explained that the insurgents were attacked by the dogs, forcing them to detonate the explosives strapped to their bodies.
Isah said that the dogs belonged to members of the CJTF and had been deployed to the area for rescue operations.
The eyewitness said further that the dogs attacked the suicide bombers when the animals sensed that the bombers were strangers.
Isah said that the explosion blew the suicide bombers to pieces and killed the dogs.
“We heard a male suicide bomber shouting in his dialect and the dogs barking and going after them.
“Only the suicide bombers and the dogs were killed in the attacks,” he stressed.
According to a short statement from the Borno State Police Public Relation Officer, DSP Victor Isuku, the first incident involving a female bomber took place yesterday at Molai general area near a security guard formation.
Molai is a satellite community sharing border with Maiduguri metropolis from the South East.
The second incident according to DSP Isuku took place at the same Molai area but this time near the general hospital in the area along Maiduguri Damboa Road.
The statement reads in full: “Yesterday, 3/8/2017, a female suicide bomber detonated IED strapped on her body near a joint security guard location in Molai general area, killing herself alone.
“Today 4/8/2017, at about 0515hrs, two suicide bombers, male and female, attempted to gain entry into the temporary settlement area for rehabilitated leprosy patients within the premises of Molai General Hospital on the outskirts of Maiduguri township, along Maiduguri /Damboa highway.
“They were prevented by the persistent barking and attacks from dogs in the area. In the process, they hurriedly detonated IEDs strapped to their bodies, killing themselves. No other casualty was recorded.
Police EOD teams were promptly drafted to the scenes to sanitise and render the area and its surrounding safe. Normalcy has since been restored.”