52 killed, 96 injured as terrorists bomb Yola mosque

At least, 52 people were killed and 96 injured after terrorists bombed a newly-opened mosque in Jambutu, Yola, Adamawa State on Friday.
Some mosque guards and worshippers, who helped in evacuating the bodies, confirmed the figures.
They said some of the bodies were blown into pieces.
But, the Adamawa State coordinator of National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Mr. Saad Bello, said his agency could only confirm 27 dead.
It was learned that two bombers struck at the mosque, one of them a young boy who detonated the bomb at the entrance.
The blasts occurred about 2pm shortly after the Imam of the mosque concluded reading the sermon for the Juma’at prayer.
“It was a young boy who attempted to get into the mosque when the explosive went off. It’s a new Friday mosque, this is the first Friday prayer to be offered in the mosque.
” Over 100 people have so far been evacuated to hospital but I can’t say how many among them are dead,” an eye witness, who simply identified himself as Umaru, said.
Another eye witness said the second bomb went off seconds after the first.
The Police spokesman in the state, DSP Othman Abubakar and the Executive Secretary, Adamawa State Emergency Management Agency (ADSEMA), Alhaji Haruna Furo, also confirmed the incident.
“We are now evacuating those affected to Yola Specialist Hospital and Federal Medical Centre,” Furo said.
The blast was the third in Yola within the past six months.
The first incident was near Yola central market followed by the one at Malkohi IDPs camp.
In a related development, the Secretary of the Borno Elders Forum, Alhaji Mali Gubio, on Friday enjoined residents to form Mosque guards to address the spate of bombings in mosques across the state.
Gubio spoke while reacting to increasing wave of bombings during congregational prayers in mosques.
“It is sad that the Boko Haram fighters have continued to unleash terror on Muslim worshipers in the state. Residents must stand up and protect themselves by forming Mosque Guards in all areas to halt this madness,’’ he said.
Gubio made reference to Islamic history, where the Holy Prophet Muhammad was said to have instructed the formation of Mosque Guards to prevent Muslims from attacks during the early stage of the religion.
“In the early stage of Islam, Mosque Guards were used to protect worshipers from aggression from Idol worshipers.
“I think we must copy from that by ensuring safety in our mosques,’’ he said.
The secretary described the bombing of mosque as cowardice, and said: “the Boko Haram sect members are cowards.
“Instead of facing the military in the bush, they decided to bomb innocent people praying in mosques.’’
Gubio said the renewed mosque attacks had shown that the insurgents had nothing to do with Islam.
“It is now clear that they are anti-Islam, they are only pretending to be Muslims, when their mission is to give the religion a bad name,’’ he said.
Gubio expressed optimism that the insurgency would end in a matter of time, and urged Nigerians to continue to pray for a quick end to the attack.