A suicide bomber today blew himself up among crowds of Muslims, of Sheikh El-Zakzaki Shia group, as they were marching in procession from Kano to Zaria.
The attack happened in the village of Dakasoye, about 20 kilometres south of the city, during a march by followers of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria.
The group, said on its website that the blast happened at 2:00 pm and that “scores” had been killed.
But there was no official indication of casualties and one of the organizers confirmed that it was a huge crowd so it’s too early to give a precise figure of casualties.
The organizer also confirmed that one of the suspected bombers has been arrested, adding: “we now have the other suspect in custody.”
The organizer, who asked to remain anonymous, said the bomber ran into the crowd before he could be spotted and detonated his explosives.
“He was dressed in black like everyone else. His accomplice was initially arrested and confessed they were sent by Boko Haram.
“They were part of the young men abducted by Boko Haram in (the Borno state town of) Mubi last year and taken to Sambisa Forest where they were given some military training.
“They were sent to Kano 11 days ago and kept in a house specifically for this attack.”
The bomber detonated his explosives after realizing his accomplice had been arrested, the organizer added.
Today’s attack came after a female bomber killed eight in the northeastern city of Maiduguri last Sunday and four teenage girls blew themselves up in northern Cameroon on Saturday killing five.
Meanwhile, the director of security services (DSS) in Abuja, Mohammed Mohammed, has alerted Abuja residents of the planned attack by members of Boko Haram.
He said in a statement today that intelligence report showed that Boko Haram had concluded plans to attack crowded places, particularly churches, mosques and markets, in the coming days, using teenage girls as suicide bombers.
The statement reads: “their main targets are worship centres and markets with the use of young girls as members of aid groups to carry out their planned attacks.”
Copies of the statement were distributed to all mosques, churches and markets across the FCT “for extra vigilance particularly unknown persons dressing as aid workers loitering around the worship areas and markets.”
It urged local residents to be vigilant and report suspicious persons to police. On Oct. 2, two suicide attacks in Abuja killed 20 people and injured many others. [myad]
