By Rafiu Ajakaye
LAGOS, Nigeria
At least six people were killed Monday afternoon in separate suicide attacks in Nigeria's northeastern Maiduguri, the capital city of the Boko Haram-stricken Borno state, according to a local vigilante official.
"A suicide bombing occurred this afternoon inside Baga bus station and five people, including the bomber, died while a few others were injured," Jubrin Gunda, spokesman of the Civilian Joint Task Force, told Anadolu Agency.
He said a lone female suicide bomber was shot dead in another suicide attempt at the same bus station, bringing the total number of casualties to six.
"She was shot dead before she could detonate the device," Gunda said.
Defense spokesman Chris Olukolade has not commented on the latest attacks, which follow a similar pattern of terrorist incidents over the past few weeks.
Suspicion falls on Boko Haram, which has waged a violent insurgency in the country's northeast region since 2009.
The latest attacks come as Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari ordered the closure of all "non-essential" military checkpoints across the country.
"President Buhari Monday in Abuja directed the Nigerian Army to withdraw soldiers from military checkpoints in relatively secure parts of the country and concentrate more on ending the Boko Haram insurgency," presidential spokesman Garba Shehu said in a statement released after Buhari met with the country's security chiefs.
Shehu said the president added that "military checkpoints could be retained in areas outside the northeastern states where the military considers them absolutely essential for the maintenance of national security."
The statement also quoted Buhari as reaffirming his administration's total commitment to ending the Boko Haram insurgency in the shortest possible time.
