At least 40 killed in bombing at northeast Nigeria football pitch

Armed Cameroonian men patrol Waza, northern Cameroon after Boko Haram militants attacked three villages in Nigeria's restive northeast Borno state near the border with Cameroon. On Sunday, at least 40 people were killed in a bomb attack targeting fans at a football match in Nigeria’s northeast. AFP PHOTO / REINNIER KAZE 

In Summary

• The police officer said the bomb exploded at around 18:30 local time at the pitch in Mubi’s Kaban area.
• It was not immediately clear if players were among the casualties.
• Mubi is located in Adamawa state, one of three in the northeast which has been under a state of emergency for more than a year.
• The military has been trying to crush Boko Haram’s five-year extremist uprising.

By AFP
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KANO, JUNE 1, 2014

At least 40 people were on Sunday killed in a bomb attack targeting fans at a football match in Nigeria’s northeast, police told AFP.

 

“There has been a bomb explosion at a football field this evening and so far more than 40 people have been killed,” said a police officer in the town of Mubi who requested anonymity.

The police officer said the bomb exploded at around 18:30 local time at the pitch in Mubi’s Kaban area.

It targeted fans who were trying to leave the field after watching a local club match.

The town has previously witnessed attacks by Boko Haram Islamists.

The policeman’s account was confirmed by a nurse at the Mubi General Hospital, who also requested anonymity.

It was not immediately clear if players were among the casualties, but the officer and the nurse said it appeared most of the victims were fans.

STATE OF EMERGENCY

Mubi is located in Adamawa state, one of three in the northeast which has been under a state of emergency for more than a year.

The military has been trying to crush Boko Haram’s five-year extremist uprising.

The area has witnessed fewer Boko Haram attacks compared to other parts of the northeast.

However, the town was the site of a horrific October 2012 massacre at a post-secondary technical college.

Scores of students were killed in their dormitories, with many having their throats slit.

Boko Haram has carried out several attacks on targets it says are a product of Western influence, including sports venues and schools teaching a secular curriculum.

The group has killed thousands during its battle against the government since 2009.

GIRLS KIDNAPPED

The conflict has received unprecedented global attention over the last six weeks after the mass kidnapping of more than 200 schoolgirls by the Islamist group.

The girls were seized on April 14, 2014 from Chibok in Borno state, which shares a border with Adamawa.

The eastern part of Nigeria has also witnessed sectarian violence at football pitches not thought to be linked to Boko Haram.

In Taraba state, just south of Adamawa, scores of people were killed in 2013 in clashes in which supporters of a nominally Muslim club battled mostly Christian fans of a rival club