(Kano) At least four people were killed Thursday in the explosion of several rockets fired by suspected jihadists in northeast Nigeria on the day of President Muhammadu Buhari’s visit, residents and emergency services said. .
At around 10 a.m. (5 a.m. EST), at least five rockets were fired from an unknown location on Maiduguri, the large northeastern city, a region plagued by a jihadist insurgency for 12 years. The capital of Borno State was preparing for the official visit of President Buhari, who arrived at around noon.
Residents blamed the attack on the Islamic State in West Africa (ISWAP), which is particularly rife in the region.
“We evacuated four bodies to hospital from a house hit by one of the rockets,” an emergency services official said on condition of anonymity.
“Several people were injured in the attacks in the three affected locations,” added the official from the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA).
“Five rockets fell on the city this morning, but it is too early to give details of the destruction and losses recorded,” said Umar Ari, an anti-jihadist militiaman.
According to a resident, Abbagana Ahmad, one of the rockets hit a house in the Gomari neighborhood, near the air base where President Buhari was to land, killing a woman and her three children.
In a context of heightened security, President Buhari inaugurated several projects in Maiduguri, including a road bridge and an educational center at the local university.
“I assure the governor […] that I am fully aware of our security situation here and elsewhere, ”he told the university.
“I ordered and began to receive military materiel from the United States. We are going to be very, very hard on them, ”he added, referring to the jihadists in the northeast and the criminal gangs that are rampant in particular in his native region of the northwest.
ISWAP and its rival Boko Haram have launched several deadly rocket attacks at Maiduguri since the start of the jihadist insurgency that has claimed more than 40,000 lives and displaced nearly two million people.
In February, at least 17 people were killed and around 40 injured in a dawn rocket attack on Maiduguri by ISWAP fighters.
ISWAP consolidated its control in the northeast after the death of the Boko Haram leader in May, during clashes between the two groups.