Taraba attack: Death toll rises to 11 - Red Cross

[DT]

A Red Cross official has said the death toll from this morning's attack in Jalingo has risen to 11.

{jathumbnail off}

Umar Waziri, information coordinator of the Red Cross in Jalingo who spoke to journalists on phone said his men counted 10 dead bodies at the scene of the blast and one other person died later at the hospital.

The convoy of the Taraba state Commissioner of Police was this morning attacked by suicide bombers near the Taraba state ministry of finance building in Jalingo, the state capital. Witnesses said the explosion shock the foundations of the surrounding buildings, shattered windows and pulled down ceilings.

3 people were initially reported to have died in the attack and 15 others sustained various degrees of injuries.

The attack occurred around 8:30 am and police sources say the commissioner of Police, Sule Mamman was the target. The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) Ibiang Mbasekei said three motorcyclists came from nowhere and  forced their way into the Commissioner's convoy and a bomb exploded from the body of  one of the motorcyclists, shattering the front windscreen of the Commissioner's  Peugeot 407 official car but the commissioner himself was unhurt.

The despatch rider of the convoy, Usman Suleiman was mortally wounded in the attack. His left eye, right arm and thigh were all bloodied as he lay on a bed in the theatre of the FMC writhing in pains while medics attended to him.

Some parts of the ministry of finance building were also reportedly damaged by the explosion.

Daily Trust