By John Ogunsemore, Lagos
A resident of Gwoza, Buba Shehu, has narrated how he lost five family members and several friends in terror attacks that rocked Gwoza Local Government Area of Borno State over the weekend.
Daily Sun earlier reported that the Director General of the Borno State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), Dr Barkindo Saidu, confirmed on Sunday that 18 people died, while no fewer than 42 others sustained injuries of varying degrees, in the terror attacks.
Saidu said no fewer than 30 female suicide bombers were sent into Gwoza to detonate improvised explosive devices (IEDs) at different locations within the area.
Read also: Borno bomb attacks: Death toll rises to 18, 42 injured
He said only four suicide bombers succeeded in carrying out their assignments.
Reacting, Shehu described the incidents and associated casualties as “painful”.
“This is just like a dream; I have lost five people in my family in less than 24 hours. Three died yesterday (Saturday) as a result of the dastardly act by a suicide bomber during a wedding reception at our family house in Gwoza.
“We also received a call this (Sunday) morning that two people passed away due to a lack of blood in their bodies. So, personally, I lost three family members and two of my good friends. This is painful,” he told *Daily Trust*.
Shehu added, “Many of our friends left Maiduguri to attend the wedding in Gwoza. Unfortunately, seven are currently receiving treatment in this hospital. As of last night, we lost 20 people, and 30 others were wounded.
“But this (Sunday) morning, we lost one person in Maiduguri, and two of our relatives died in Gwoza in the early hours.”
Meanwhile, the Borno State Government has expressed shock over the multiple bomb attacks.
Speaking on Channels TV’s *Sunrise Daily* on Monday, Borno State Commissioner for Information and Internal Security, Usman Tar, said the attacks did not occur due to “intelligence failure”.
“It is an error that we did not see coming,” he said.
Tar noted that the state’s porous borders could have helped the attackers.
“If terrorists want to attack, and they use a particular route that you don’t know, what can you do?
“As you know, our boundaries are porous; that is internationally. Even our local boundaries are porous,” he lamented.
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