Three persons died in an attempted suicide attack in Maiduguri,
the Borno State capital, on Tuesday night.

The Deputy Director, Army Public Relations, 7 Division
Maiduguri, Col. Tukur Gusau, who confirmed the attack to
journalists on the telephone on Wednesday, did not however
specify if other militants were among the casualties.

Gusau called on the members of the public to be extra-vigilant,
appealing to them to support the military in its effort to end the
insurgency.

Habuya Mahmud, who is the commander of the youth vigilance
group in Gomari airport ward, told our correspondent that the
bomber launched the attack at a checkpoint after the Maiduguri
airport junction, along the Kano-Jos road.

According to him, two male suicide bombers approached the
checkpoint shortly before 10pm.

The curfew in the state capital starts from 9.30pm.

Mahmud, who claimed that he witnessed the attack and equally
participated in the rescue efforts, said the attackers approached
the checkpoint from an opposite direction and the guard
commander, an Air Force sergeant, flagged them down.

“He told them to move closer with raised arms; but as they got
close enough to him, they detonated the explosives strapped on
them, which resulted in their death and the Air Force personnel,”
he said.

Mahmud added that a woman, who passed through the area at
the time of the attack, was injured and was rushed to the Umaru
Shehu Hospital at Bulumkuttu.