Seven Boko Haram Members Die In Explosive-laden Vehicle

Seven suspected Boko Haram terrorists were on Monday killed when an
Improvised Explosive Device hidden in a Toyota Pick-up van they were
driving in exploded before they could get to Biu Market, Maiduguri, the
Borno State capital.

A security source, who spoke on condition of anonymity with our
correspondent from Biu, said the suspected terrorists hid the explosives
among bags of beans and maize to create the impression that they were
traders going to the market. But the IEDs exploded before they could get to
the market, which the source said was their main target.

He said, “A Toyota pickup van loaded with maize and beans with IED
hidden under it belonging to Boko Haram insurgents exploded near
Chikwarkir village of Biu killing all its seven occupants.

“The insurgents must have intended to sneak into Biu Market to detonate
the explosives and thereby kill many people. As you know, it is harvest
period and people are taking their farm produce to the market but thank
God the bomb exploded before they could get to the market.”

The soldier said that the insurgents must have specifically chosen Monday
because they knew that Monday and Thursday were market days in Biu
town, the headquarters of Biu Local Government Area of the state.

A transporter, Yusuf Ahmed, said they saw on Monday the corpses of the
dead Boko Haram members along the roadside near Chikwarkir village.
He said, “We thought they were victims of an auto crash but the villagers
told us they were members of Boko Haram sect that were trying to carry
explosives to Biu Market but it exploded before they even got to Biu.”

In a related development, scores of people were also said to have been
killed and houses and shops burnt when Boko Haram insurgents attacked
Kautikari village in Chibok Local Government Area of Borno State.

A resident of the area, who fled to Biu, told our correspondent on the
telephone on Tuesday that the insurgents stormed the village on Monday
night and killed scores of people and burnt some houses and shops.
He said, “We had to flee to the bush in the night before returning to the
village the following day to pick our belongings.”

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