Yobe State police commissioner, Mr. Moses Namiri, however, put the number of dead at 34.
In his account of the attack, the nurse said: “I have counted 56 bodies at the morgue and I am sure that the death toll could rise in view of the serious nature of injuries sustained. The Potiskum mortuary is made up of a room and a parlour and I counted the 56 in the parlour only. I didn’t go into the inner room.”
The police commissioner, Moses Namiri, said security forces had confirmed 34 killed and that an Islamist sect was suspected to be behind the attack. He said: “Everybody knows the modus operandi of the sect, they threw explosives and used guns. The gunfire lasted for almost an hour.”
An eye witness, Mama Yusuf, a retired civil servant, said there were dead bodies on the ground, though he could not say how many. He noted: “I saw dead bodies all around the place and the emergency services taking people to hospitals.”
The attack was said to be in reprisal for an incident earlier in the day, when a gang sought to rob the market but were fought off by traders who caught one of the attackers, police said.
The man who was caught was doused in petrol and a tyre was placed around his neck before he was burnt to death, according to police and residents.
“A group of gunmen armed with around 20 explosives and assault rifles attacked the Potiskum cattle market,” police spokesman, Toyin Gbadegesin, told AFP.
34 bodies brought to hospital—NEMA
“They threw explosives and shot indiscriminately, setting fire to the market, killing lots of livestock and wounding many people, mostly cattle dealers.”
An official of National Emergency Agency said on condition of anonymity that 34 bodies were brought to a local hospital and some 22 other people were being treated for injuries.
He added that the toll was likely to be more than 50 because families were also burying relatives’ bodies without bringing them to the hospital.
Residents described a terrifying scene at the market usually crowded with traders, with scores of cattle burnt, the market razed and dozens of people killed. Vehicles were also said to have been burnt.
One resident said firefighters were at the scene yesterday morning searching water wells out of fears that residents had fallen in and drowned while trying to flee.
Residents crowded a local hospital to determine if their relatives were among the dead.
According to a resident, “the whole market has been burnt down. Roasted remains of cattle litter the whole place. The ground has been scorched. Firefighters later arrived at the market trying to go into open wells to bring out bodies of people that fell in while trying to flee the attackers.”
No comments:
Post a Comment