by James Sambo

At least 40 people, including five soldiers and a local hunter, were reportedly killed on Thursday after an explosion went off around Mararaba-Mubi area of Adamawa State. According to report, Boko Haram insurgents planted the bomb.

Reports say the explosive might have been planted by members of the Boko Haram on the eve of the day and it went off while people, including soldiers, gathered in the morning to strategies on their next line of action.

According to the eyewitness, who spoke to newsmen in Yola, the Adamawa State capital, the military had converted the venue of the blast to a checkpoint, since there was always heavy presence of people at the spot most of the time.

“My house is some metres from the scene of the incident. I stood outside my compound, watching the suburb. And all of a sudden, I heard a loud bang which shook the entire surroundings.

“The few people that were returning to the area started fleeing and the area was immediately cordoned off by the military,” he maintained.

The explosion prompted the military authorities to declare the area “a no go place” and advised returning villagers and passersby to be extra cautious along the routes.

Another witness, Abubakar Adamu, a mechanic who narrowly escaped death in the blast, said the explosion set several buses ablaze at the area.

“There were bodies everywhere on the ground,” Adamu said.

As a result of the development, security operatives have modified the existing curfew in the recaptured towns of Hong, Gombi and Mubi.

Sola