Suicide bomber kills 6 at Yobe church

A suicide bomber killed six people at a branch of the Redeemed Christian Church of God in the Jigawa area of Potiskum, Yobe state, on Sunday.

A Red Cross official and a witness told Reuters that the attack happened while some members of the church were still on their way.

“People were just going to the church when the bomber entered, otherwise the casualty figure would have been higher,” said Red Cross official Hassan Alhaji Muhammad, who visited the scene of the blast on the outskirts of the town.

A hospital in Potiskum said it had received the bodies.

Toyin Gbadegesin, police public relations officer (PPRO) in the state, told NAN that the death toll included the suicide bomber.

“A male suicide bomber detonated a bomb at Redeemed Church in the Jigawa area of Potiskum killing five on the spot,” he said.

“A female member of the church who sustained injuries also died while receiving treatment in the hospital.”

He said the injured were receiving treatment at various health facilities in the area.

Potiskum last suffered a twin suicide attack on June 15. Ten people were killed in that incident while several others sustained injuries.

Suspected insurgents killed more than 200 people last week in a spate of bloodletting that prompted renewed outrage and calls for an international meeting to coordinate the offensive against Boko Haram.

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.

President Muhammadu Buhari is due to visit his counterpart in Cameroon after Ramadan and will meet US President Barack Obama on July 20, when the fight against Boko Haram is likely to be high on the agenda.

This is the first time a church would be targeted under Buhari.