Troops of the Nigerian Army have arrested two suspects in connection with the bombing of Muslim worshippers at Gamboru market mosque in Maiduguri on December 24.
Five people were killed and 32 others injured after a suicide bomber detonated an improvised explosive device (IED) inside the mosque.
The bombing was reportedly coordinated by the Jama’atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati wal-Jihad (JAS), Ansaru, and Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) terrorist groups.
The terrorists reportedly moved through the Ngoshe Mountains towards Gazuwa and Ngom, infiltrating several communities in Borno ahead of the planned attacks.
The Christmas Eve mosque bombing was one of the attacks that succeeded.
Reports indicated that troops of Operation Hadin Kai arrested one of the suspects on Monday evening in Banki town, Borno, during joint operations and intelligence-led patrols, while the second was picked up in Damaturu, the capital of Yobe State.
According to the sources, Ibrahim had already dropped a bag of IEDs at a Mosque in Damaturu, but could not get close enough to detonate it.
Further interrogation reportedly led Ibrahim to confess that he was an accomplice in the explosion at the mosque in Gamboru market.
The suspect said he planted a bomb in a bag at the entrance of the mosque in Gamboru market while his accomplice, identified as Adamu, now deceased, entered the mosque with a suicide vest and detonated it.
He also confessed that six suicide bombers were deployed to Maiduguri ahead of the attack under the coordination of a terror kingpin.
He reportedly named three of the bombers – Salisu, Yusuf, and Adamu – who are residents of Maiduguri, while the other three, identified as Adamu, Yusuf, and Abdullahi, allegedly hailed from Michika in Adamawa State.
