Nigeria: Child suicide bomber kills 6 and injures 41

A suicide bomb has been detonated in north east Nigeria, killing six people and injuring at least 41 others. The blast took place at a major bus station in Damaturu, the capital of Yobe state today (25 August).

According to reports in the Nigerian media, the Director of Media and Publicity to Yobe State Governor, Abdullahi Bego has confirmed that the dead have been evacuated to a mortuary and emergency services are tending to the injured. Assistant Superintendent Toyin Gbagedesin said the bomber appeared to be about 14-years-old.

"A young girl came around at 7:00 am (6:00 am GMT) and wanted to enter the bus station. She was denied entry because she refused to be searched by the security guards at the entrance," a witness, Sani Dankamasho, told AFP. "She stepped out of the park. A private taxi then drove out of the park. As soon as the car came close, she detonated the explosive. Six people in the car were killed. She was also killed," he said.

No group has yet claimed responsibility for the violence, but Boko Haram has previously used young women to carry out suicide attacks in the country's north east. Security personnel have cordoned off the area.

Northern Nigeria has been rocked by bombings and shootings since President Muhammadu Buhari's inauguration in May. In July, 19 people were killed and 47 others wounded when explosives carried by a 10-year-old girl detonated in a crowded market in Damaturu.

The attack came just hours after UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-Moon met with Buhari in the capital, Abuja and said that he is "hopeful" for a swift deployment of 8,700 west African troops to battle Boko Haram. Ban said: "President Buhari and I discussed a full range of issues covering development, human rights, peace and security, including the cause of troubling levels of violence and terror perpetuated by Boko Haram in northeastern Nigeria and beyond".

Buhari has vowed to crush the terror group which has claimed 1,000 lives since he took office and around 20,000 people in six years. The group's bloody campaign has also displaced around 1.5m people.

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