NIGERIA'S HISTORY OF SUICIDE BOMBINGS, ABUJA 2010 TO GWOZA 2014 (Reactions)

Many lives were lost at multiple suicide bombings in Gwoza, Borno State on Saturday.

The first blast hit a wedding ceremony at about 3 p.m. local time on Saturday, then another at General Hospital Gwoza and a third at a funeral.

The director general of Borno State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) Dr. Barkindo Muhammad Saidu visited the site of the blast in Gwoza Town.

Men, women, and children are among the dead, according to Borno State Emergency Management Agency-SEMA.

The first attack at a wedding ceremony at about 3 p.m. local time on Saturday was carried out by a woman, Alhaji Mohammed Shehu Timta, the Emir of Gwoza, told journalists.

"The attack was masterminded by an unidentified woman who sneaked with two children into a wedding reception of a popular young man in Gwoza; she detonated her Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), killing herself and many people," the Emir said.

Many people lost their lives in Gwoza, a town in Borno State, after a female suicide bomber detonated an improvised explosive device (IED) at a wedding venue, killing several wedding guests and injuring many others.

According to sources, the bomber was carrying a baby on her back when she stormed the venue and detonated the IED at the wedding held on Saturday, in Tashan Mararaba near the Fire Service in Gwoza town.

The second blast was at General Hospital Gwoza

A few minutes after, another suicide bomber sneaked into a burial ceremony  and detonated improvised explosive devices with more casualties.

The history of suicide bomb attacks in Nigeria dates back to about thirteen years ago.

The 2011 Abuja police headquarters bombing was believed to be the first suicide bombing in Nigeria's history. The attack occurred on 16 June 2011, when a suicide bomber drove a car bomb onto the premises of the Louis Edet House in Abuja, the headquarters of the Nigeria Police Force. He may have been trying to kill Inspector-General of Police Hafiz Ringim, whose convoy he followed into the compound, but he was stopped by security before he could do so.

The bomber and a traffic policeman were killed, although authorities said there may have been up to six casualties.

The 2011 Abuja United Nations Building bombing was a car bomb explosion on Friday, 26 August 2011 in the Nigerian capital Abuja's UN building that killed at least 21 and wounded 60. A spokesperson from the Sunni Islamist group Boko Haram later claimed responsibility.

At about 11:00 WAT in the diplomatic zone in the centre of the city the car bomb vehicle broke through two security barriers. Then its driver detonated the bomb after crashing it into the UN reception area. The bomb caused devastation to the building's lower floors. The building is said to be the headquarters for about 400 UN employees but it is not clear how many were inside the building at the time of the attack.

A series of attacks occurred during Christmas Day church services in northern Nigeria on 25 December 2011. There were bomb blasts and shootings at churches in Madalla, Jos, Gadaka, and Damaturu. A total of 41 people were reported dead 57 others were injured in the attack at St. Theresa Catholic Church in Madalla, a satellite town of Abuja located 40 km from the city center

Another explosion hit the Mountain of Fire and Miracles Church in Jos and gunmen later fired on police who were guarding the area resulting in the death of one police officer.

Two other bombs were found in a nearby building and were disarmed.

Two explosions were reported in the city of Damaturu and another at a church in the northeastern town of Gadaka. At least one of the attacks in Damaturu was the work of a suicide car bomber, who rammed the building housing the headquarters of the State Security Service. At least three people were killed in that blast. A senior military commander allegedly targeted by it survived.

A suicide car bombing occurred on Easter Day church services in the Nigerian city of Kaduna on 8 April 2012, targeting Christians. At least 38 people were reported dead. Suspicion fell on Boko Haram, the radical Islamist sect blamed for hundreds of killings in the country in 2012 alone

On March 18, 2013 a Volkswagen Golf packed with explosives and driven by three suicide bombers sped to five buses, which were being boarded by civilians, mostly Christians, traveling to south Nigeria. The car hit one of the buses and exploded. After the explosion, people started evacuating from the remaining buses. A fire spread to the four remaining buses, many of which still had passengers in them.

 On the evening of 1 June 2014, an improvised explosive device was set off at a football field in Mubi, Adamawa State, Nigeria. At least 40 people were killed in the attack, according to eyewitnesses. Nineteen others were injured. The perpetrators of the attack were not clear, although media reports generally blamed Boko Haram.

On 16 June 2015 in Gombe, a double bombing occurred at a busy marketplace during late afternoon, killing 49 people and injuring 71 others. The first bomb detonated outside a footwear shop and the second outside a china shop opposite it.

On 17 November 2015, a suicide bombing occurred at a vegetable market in Yola, Adamawa State.  Over 30 people were killed and 80 others injured as traders in the city were closing for the day.

On 16 and 22 July 2015, Gombe also recorded suicide bomb attacks, apparently by the jihadist group Boko Haram.

On February 9, 2016, two female suicide bombers affiliated with Boko Haram detonated their explosives killing more than 60 people and injurimg 78 others at a camp for displaced people in Dikwa, Nigeria. Five suicide bombers had infiltrated the camp disguised as refugees with two of them, both women between the ages of 17 and 20, setting off their bombs as refugees were queuing for rations. A third bomber refused to kill herself after entering the camp and discovering her relatives were there, while two others also refused to set off their vests and escaped the camp

The Madagali suicide bombings occurred on 9 December 2016 when 2 women suicide bombers attacked Madagali, a town in Nigeria. The attack killed at least 57 people and injured 177. Among those individuals injured 120 were reported to be children.

On 22 March 2017, at approximately 4:30 a.m, a series of bomb blasts occurred in three locations in the Muna Garage area of Maiduguri, Borno State. The blasts occurred at the Muna Garage internally displaced persons (IDPs) camp.

The attacks, which were unleashed by three to five bombers at different locations, resulted in the deaths of three to five civilian camp residents as well as themselves and injured 20 people.

On 21 November 2017, a suicide bombing occurred in Mubi, Adamawa State. A teenager detonated the explosives in a mosque as worshippers arrived for fajr prayer in the large town, killing 50 people.

On 1 May 2018, two suicide bombers detonated their explosives at a mosque and a market in the town of Mubi in Adamawa state in Nigeria, killing at least 86 people and injuring 58 others. The blasts were carried out by young boys and happened shortly after 1:00 pm.

Konduga had suffered previous attacks, including massacres in January 2014 and in February 2014, a triple suicide bombing in February 2018 and a suicide bombing at a mosque in July 2018.

On the evening of 16 June 2019, three suicide bombers detonated their explosives in Konduga village in Borno State, Nigeria, killing 30 people and wounding over 40.

The first bomber targeted football fans who were watching a game on television in the hall. He was blocked from entering the hall by the owner. A heated argument ensued, during which the bomber detonated his explosives. This attack was the most deadly suicide bombing in 2019 in Nigeria. Soon after, the other two both of whom were female, blew themselves up nearby.

Saturday’s suicide bomb attacks have attracted reactions from both Nigerians and the diplomatic community.

President Tinubu issued a statement hours after the incident, commiserating with the victims’ families as well as the Borno State Government.

In the statement signed by presidential spokesman, Ajuri Ngelale, President Tinubu describes the attacks as desperate acts of terror and a clear manifestation of the pressure mounted against terrorists and the success achieved in degrading their capacity to launch offensives.

Tinubu said that the “purveyors of wanton violence shall have a certain encounter with justice and that these cowardly attacks are only but an isolated episode as his government will not allow the nation to slither into an era of fear, tears, sorrow, and blood.”

The President maintained that his administration is taking necessary measures to secure citizens, stressing that efforts will be redoubled to ensure that those who trouble the nation, dispatching precious lives, and disrupting law and order are completely removed.

Former Vice President of Nigeria, Atiku Abubakar, has called on the federal government led by President Bola Tinubu to wake up from its slumber and protect the citizens of the country from all acts of insecurity and terrorism.

Reacting to the unfortunate incident, Atiku commiserated with those affected by the bombing and called out the government for allowing much of the pushback that has been achieved against Boko Haram to be re-surfacing due to a lacklustre posture on security issues.

He urged action to be taken to ensure the Northeast region does not slide back into terrorism and extreme violence.

The Acting Governor of the state, Alhaji Umar Kadafur, paid a visit to the hospital on Sunday.

He also announced that the state government had settled the medical bills of the victims and is ensuring they receive adequate medical attention.

Kadafur was accompanied to the hospital by the Senate Chief Whip, Senator Ali Ndume, a member representing Damboa, Gwoza and Chibok Federal Constituency in the National Assembly, Ahmadu Jaha, and other government officials.

The United Nations has also condemned the suicide bomb attacks that targeted civilian populations in Gwoza Local Government Area of Borno State.

The attacks, carried out by suspected female suicide bombers, struck a wedding, a hospital, and a funeral in Gwoza, a town near the border with Cameroon.

The UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria, Mohamed Fall, in a statement on Sunday, expressed his horror and condemnation of the attacks in the strongest terms.

Fall also emphasised the United Nations’ commitment to supporting the victims of the attacks and conveyed his condolences to the Borno State Government.

Zagazola Makama, a security analyst and counter-insurgency expert,  said the bomber, later identified as a young lady in her early twenties, detonated her explosive device in the middle of the gathering, causing chaos and destruction.

Vice President Kashim Shettima, who visited the victims, made a personal donation to all the victims, condoled with the families of those killed by the multiple explosions.

The Vice President was accompanied by the Deputy Governor of Borno State, Umar Kadafur; Senator Ali Ndume; Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Abubakar Kyari; former Nigerian Ambassador to China, Baba Ahmed Jidda; and other government functionaries.