ICC NOTE: A suicide attack, likely by Boko Haram, targeted a marketplace in the northeastern Nigerian city of Yola. At present, 32 people have been killed and 80 have been wounded from the blast which ripped through the area as family and friends were stocking up for dinner. Boko Haram’s recent activity has been muddled due to Nigerian forces clamping down on the terror group. According to many experts, Boko Haram is no longer capable of executing large scale attacks and kidnappings as they are left with targeting markets and other public venues. Boko Haram this year alone has destroyed 1,000 schools and universities, many of which were Christian institutions as they continue to target Christian communities through rape, murder, and kidnapping.
11/18/2015 Yola, Nigeria (New York Times) — A blast in the northeastern Nigerian city of Yola on Tuesday night tore through a marketplace, killing 32 people and wounding 80 others, according to the local authorities and witnesses.
The blast occurred at 8 p.m. at a market filled with shoppers stocking up on fruits and vegetables for dinner, turning the area into a horrific scene of blood, bodies and mayhem.
No one claimed responsibility, but officials suspected the militant Islamic group Boko Haram, which has unleashed years of violence in the region. A police spokesman, Othman Abubakar, said officials were investigating.
Nigeria has increased its fight against Boko Haram as part of a pledge from the new president, Muhammadu Buhari, to finish it off by the end of the year.
Earlier on Tuesday, Mr. Buhari ordered the arrest of the former president’s national security adviser, Sambo Dasuki, accusing him of stealing more than $2 billion that Mr. Buhari said should have gone to pay for weapons to fight Boko Haram.
Mr. Dasuki, whom Mr. Buhari quickly fired along with other top military officials upon taking office, pleaded not guilty last month to other money laundering charges and released a statement saying he was surprised by the recent action.
Nigeria has been working with neighboring countries to root out Boko Haram and is receiving guidance from American and French military officials.
Many of the region’s top officials, as well as international experts, say Boko Haram has lost its footing recently and is no longer capable of overtaking entire villages or of kidnapping large groups of people. Instead, official said, the group is left to stage small-scale attacks on markets and other public places.
On Tuesday, the havoc that such attacks can wreak was obvious in Yola. Family members and others gathered, some crying, as they awaited information about missing relatives and friends.
