…As Libyan oil storage hit in new fighting at Ras Lanuf***
No fewer than 32 persons were killed, while 84 others were injured when six suicide bombers marked the Eid el -Fitr by detonating Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), in Damboa local government area in Borno state on Saturday.
The major reason for the high figures however remains shrouded as some locals alleged that the deaths arose from a misfiring by the Nigerian Army’s artillery; even as the army denied the claim.
Malam Buba Shettima, a witness said that two separate bomb blasts occurred in Shuwari and Abbachari, at about 8:30 p.m.
“The whole of Damboa was shaken by the unfortunate incident. We all scampered for safety as the blasts were coming from different directions. There were bodies everywhere.
“We suspected that the many deaths recorded were a result of the military artillery,”he said.
Mohammed Hassan, another local from the area who corroborated the claim, said:
“At about 8:30 pm of on Saturday night, an attack suspected to be from an artillery killed 31 innocent people in Damboa Shehuri and Abachari. The attacks came from two separate directions. My house was among some of the houses destroyed,” he said.
Maj.-Gen. Rogers Nicholas, commander of Operation Lafiya Dole, denied the claim, saying the killings were caused by suicide attacks and not military artillery.
“There was nothing like an attack from the military artillery. You can see the pictures of six female bombers who detonated their explosives and as a result, 20 persons were killed while others were injured,” he said.
Rogers urged people to disregard the claim that people were killed by the military and not by suicide bombers.
Modu-Zannah Maina, the District Head of Damboa, who described the incident as “shocking and disturbing”, said the attack was perpetrated by female suicide bombers.
Maina lamented that a lot of those that were affected were mostly children adding that many victims were injured.
“We are here in this hospital to check our people affected by Saturday’s bomb blasts. So far, the victims have been responding to treatment,”he said.
Meanwhile Mr Damian Chukwu, the Borno Commissioner of Police, said: “On Saturday, at about 2045hrs, an explosion occurred at Abachari area, in the outskirt of Damboa L.G.A. of Borno State.
“At the sound of the explosion, personnel of the Nigeria Police and members of the civilian JTF mobilised to the scene and discovered 20 dead bodies and 48 injured persons in a suspected terrorist attack.
“The wounded and the dead were evacuated to a hospital while the scene was sanitised by a deployment of police EOD unit.
“Investigation is ongoing to unravel the nature of the attack,”he said.
Hajiya Yabawa Kolo, the Chairperson of the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), who also confirmed the incident, said the agency had deployed its personnel to evacuate wounded persons to the hospital for quick medical attention.
“Our team has been deployed to render life saving support to the victims of the blast. As you can see, they have been tirelessly working with ICRC since morning to evacuate the injured from the airport to the hospital.
“We are all saddened by the unfortunate incident that occured in Damboa,”said Kolo.
In the meantime, an oil storage tank at the Ras Lanuf oil port in Libya’s ‘oil crescent’ region was hit in new fighting on Sunday, a fire fighting official said.
The official said the Ras Lanuf’s storage tank No. II was hit and held 200,000 barrels of crude at the time.
NAN reports that armed clashes broke out on Thursday in the Libyan oil crescent region that contains the country’s main oil ports after an armed militia attacked army troops stationed there.
Information department of the army said in a statement that its forces defeated and expelled the Benghazi Defense Brigades, which tried to penetrate into the oil crescent region and ignite an oil reservoir in Veba oil field of al-Harouge oil company.
“The attack aims at easing the army’s firepower on the terrorists in Darna, of which liberation is very soon,” the statement said.
Earlier on Thursday, former chief of the Oil Installation Guards, Ibrahim Jathran, who is wanted by the Public Prosecutor, declared war in the oil crescent.
The state-owned National Oil Corporation also evacuated its employees from the ports of Ras Lanuf and Sidra for security reasons.
“The oil production dropped by an estimated of 240,000 barrels. An oil tanker that was supposed to arrive at Sidra port was postponed,” the corporation said in a statement, calling for “bringing to justice all individuals or groups trying to take over Libyan oil installation, besiege production operations, and use the Corporation to achieve their goals.”
A year ago, Jathran was involved in blocking oil exports with Benghazi Defence Brigades, as well as attacking oil ports, which was stopped later by the army forces.
In September 2016, the army took control of the oil crescent region and expelled forces loyal to Jathran, who closed major oil ports and cost the country billions of U.S. dollars of losses.
