Female Suicide Bomber Kills 6 At Northeast Nigeria Church

(MENAFN- Arab Times) A female suicide bomber blew himself up on Sunday inside a church in the restive northeastern Nigerian city of Potiskum, killing six worshippers, a police officer and witness told AFP.

The bomber entered the uncompleted Redeemed Christian Church of God at 9:55 am in the Jigawa area on the outskirts of the city in Yobe state and detonated her explosives, killing the worshippers, including a woman and her two children as well as the pastor, they said. "Five worshippers died instantly while the sixth victim gave up shortly after she was taken to hospital," a police officer involved in the evacuation told AFP. "The victims included a woman and her two children, the pastor and another worshipper," added the officer who spoke on condition of anonymity. Witness Garba Manu told AFP the bomber arrived at the church on a motorised rickshaw disguised as a worshipper and detonated her explosives as soon as she entered the church. "I saw when the bomber alighting from a motorised rickshaw and entering the church and as soon as he entered a loud explosion ripped through the church which is under construction," he said. "I saw her walked into the church and her didn't raise any suspicion. Five worshippers, including three females and two males were in the church when the bomber entered and they were all killed," he added. "The dismembered body of the bomber was also recovered," said Manu, who lives in the area. There was no immediate claim of responsibility but Potiskum, the commercial capital of Yobe state, has been hit repeatedly by Boko Haram Islamists in their six-year insurgency, including by suicide bombers.

The insurgents have also launched a series of attacks on mosques, villages and markets in neighbouring Borno state in the past few days, claiming more than 200 lives. Boko Haram are keen to prove they are not a spent force despite a four-nation military offensive that has run them out of captured towns and villages since February this year. The use of improvised explosive devices and suicide bombings has increased since May 29 when President Muhammadu Buhari took office vowing to crush the rebellion. According to an AFP tally, at least 654 people have lost their lives since that date.

French President Francois Hollande said the Boko Haram threat was getting stronger and that he was ready to hold a summit, following one in Paris in May 2014, to gather the leaders of countries fighting the insurgents. New Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari is due to visit his counterpart in Cameroon after the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and meets US President Barack Obama on July 20, when the fight against Boko Haram is likely to be high on the agenda. Potiskum is in Yobe state next to Borno, a remote state which is Boko Haram's stronghold in Nigeria and borders Cameroon, Chad and Niger.