Nigeria: Boko Haram attempts to blow up a crowded gas station
A member of Islamist terrorist group Boko Haram was arrested by Nigeria’s Civilian Joint Task Force (JTF) before he could even blow himself up in a crowded gas station in the Borno state capital of Maiduguri, reported the Daily Post Nigeria.
The suicide bomber, who was pretending to buy fuel, had attempted to stab one of the boys controlling the crowd after the latter prevented him from entering with a gallon.
“In the process, a member of the Civilian JTF noticed that, bomb was tied round him and he quickly grabbed him before he made any attempt to detonate it,” recounted Garba Hussain in an interview with the Daily Post Nigeria.
The incident took place on December 1 at an unnamed station, where more than 500 people and 100 cars were in waiting in line to refuel.
“We did not hear what he was saying until we heard bomb! Bomb!! Then everybody began to run away. They said, he was carrying bomb. For me, I took to my heels when I saw people running. I don’t associate myself with crowd since Boko Haram started bombing people. But this one would have been another catastrophe,” Mohammed Umar told the Daily Post Nigeria.
Gas stations, plagued with long queues due to persisting fuel shortage in the country, have been a common target for the terrorist group that pledged allegiance to Daesh or the self-proclaimed Islamic State.
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