KANO: At least 50 people were killed on Tuesday when a suicide bomber blew himself up in a mosque in Nigeria, police said, in an attack blamed on Boko Haram.

The blast happened during early morning prayers at the Madina mosque in the Unguwar Shuwa area of Mubi, some 200 kilometres by road from the Adamawa state capital Yola.

It was the biggest attack in Adamawa since December 2016, when two female suicide bombers killed 45 people at a crowded market in the town of Madagali.

Security analysts said that Tuesday’s bombing again underlined the threat posed by Boko Haram, despite an overall decline in deaths from attacks by the group last year.

Adamawa state police spokesman Othman Abubakar told AFP that at least 50 were killed in the Mubi attack.

“It was a (suicide) bomber who mingled with worshippers. He entered the mosque along with other worshippers for the morning prayers.

“It was when the prayers were on that he set off his explosives.” Asked who was responsible, Abubakar said: “We all know the trend. We don’t suspect anyone specifically but we know those behind such kind of attacks.”

Roof blown off

The attack bore all the hallmarks of Boko Haram, the Muslim militant group whose insurgency has left at least 20,000 people dead and more than 2.6 million others homeless since 2009.

Haruna Furo, head of the Adamawa state emergency management agency, and Musa Hamad Bello, chairman of the Mubi north local government area, both confirmed the attack.

They gave lower death tolls but both said the number killed was likely to rise.

Another emergency services official described the blast as “devastating” and said there were “high casualties”.

Abubakar Sule, who lives near the mosque, said he was present during the rescue operation and that 40 people died on the spot while several others were taken to hospital with severe and life-threatening injuries.

“The roof was blown off. People near the mosque said the prayer was mid-way when the bomber, who was obviously in the congregation, detonated his explosives. This is obviously the work of Boko Haram.”

The latest Global Terrorism Index, published last week, said that deaths attributed to Boko Haram in 2016 fell by 80 per cent.

Published in Dawn, November 22nd, 2017