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| Inspector-General of Police Hafiz Ringim |
The police gave the casualty figure as 53 including 11 policemen, two soldiers, two Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) officers, and one each from Immigration and Customs.
However, the Nigerian Red Cross put the figure at 65 and the Jamatu Nasir Islamiyya (JNI) at 93. Even at the figure of 53 given by the police, this is the highest number of people killed in a single attack by the sect.
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President Goodluck Jonathan who was billed to travel to his home state of Bayelsa yesterday for the wedding of one of his brothers called off the trip and directed security agencies to fish out the brains behind the spate of attacks.
He also ordered security beef up in Borno and Yobe States. His Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Dr.Reuben Abati said: “The President does not feel that he should be seen attending a wedding when such incidents are happening and he has renewed his charge to security agencies to renew the search for those behind the dastardly acts.
“He believes that for anyone to carry out such acts of destruction of lives at this season of peace deviates from the message of peace and love that ordinarily radiates around Eid-El-Kabir.”
The attack started with a car bomb exploding outside a three story building used as a military office and barracks. Many uniformed security guards died in the blast.
The state government has declared a 7pm to 7am curfew in the state.
This came just hours after a series of explosions by the sect in Maiduguri, capital of the neighbouring Borno State on Friday. The town of Potiskum, also in Yobe, was attacked simultaneously as Damaturu. The distance between the two towns is 100 kilometers.
As the day broke yesterday, scores of Damaturu residents began to flee following whispers that the sect might return. The situation was not helped by a statement by a spokesman for the group that more attacks were coming.
“We are responsible for the attack in Borno State and Damaturu. We will continue attacking federal government formations until security forces stop persecuting our members and vulnerable civilians,” sect spokesman, Abul Qaqa said in a statement to news agencies.
Witnesses said the Damaturu bombs hit several targets, including churches and the headquarters of the Yobe State police.
Red Cross official Ibrahim Bulama, in Damaturu, earlier told the BBC at least 63 people had been killed there.
He said people visiting morgues have reported seeing 92 bodies.
An updated BBC report hours later, indicate that the Red Cross later put the figure at over 100.
An unnamed local government official in Damaturu was quoted as saying that hundreds of wounded people were being treated in hospital.
The attacks began on Friday at about 6.30pm and lasted about 90 minutes.
Gunmen then engaged in running battles with security forces after invading police stations and shooting indiscriminately. Business activities were abruptly called off as people ran for their lives.
A Roman Catholic parish priest said his church had been burnt down and eight other churches also attacked. He described gangs of young men roaming the streets throwing improvised bombs into the churches.
A Damaturu resident, Mamman Mohammed said: “We are all indoors while the fighting is going on. Damaturu and Potiskum my home town are under siege. The Boko Haram sect have taken over the towns and the security men are battling them. No one is safe.”
A lawyer who visited the Damaturu General Hospital yesterday looking for a missing friend said he counted 60 bodies in the morgue.
“I have seen 60 dead bodies in the hospital, all brought in yesterday from the attacks,” the lawyer who asked not to be named said.
“I am here to look for my friend who didn’t return home yesterday.” He said anxious relatives were flocking to the hospital in search of loved ones.
Security forces this week started door-to-door searches for weapons in the northeast, after an arms amnesty for Islamist militants expired on October 31. It was unclear whether or not this spate of attacks was a response to that operation.
Yobe State Police Commissioner, Suleiman Lawan, said the attacks caught the town by surprise. He disclosed that seven Boko Haram members were shot dead.
“A police station and a mechanical workshop of the police were attacked. Six churches in the area were also bombed,” said resident Edwin Silas, adding: “The whole city is traumatised.”
Soldiers and police have mounted checkpoints in parts of the city, searching vehicles and carrying out body search of drivers and passengers.
In Potiskum, a grenade narrowly missed a police station and an ensuing gun battle left one policeman dead.
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