Kano Blast: How Suicide Bomber Disguised Before Killing 20

Fresh details have emerged following the deaths of 20 people in Garun Mallam local government area of Kano state after a suicide bomber reportedly blew himself up after mingling with the members of a Shi’ite Muslim procession in the village of Dakasoye.

Hours after the unfortunate incident, the Islamic Movement in Nigeria, which comprises members of the Shi’ite ideology, have given an insight into how the suicide bomber disguised as one of its members before detonating a bomb during a procession in Kano.

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In a statement posted on the website of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria, it was gathered that there were actually two bombers in the midst of the trekkers, but one was apprehended before he could detonate his explosive vest.

The statement reads: “Sign of the incident was first reported when a suspected bomber was arrested with a round of bomb belt tied to his waist in Kura town.
“Upon interrogation, the arrested bomber confessed that two of them were sent from Mubi in Adamawa state to Sambisa and finally Gwammaja Quarters in Kano state on a suicide mission to kill Shi’ites during the Arba’een trek.
“While manhunt for the second bomber on the loose was going on, the bomber detonated the bomb among the trekkers.
“Scores of Brothers and Sister, including children were killed. Among the dead was the bomber whose only remain was his chest and head.”
The media team leader of the 2015 Arba’een symbolic trek, Ibrahim Usman, had in a earlier statement said the incident occurred at around 2.30pm on Friday, November 27.
Usman said 20 people died from the blast, while several others were injured.
The Islamic Movement of Nigeria spokesman also disclosed why members of the Shiite group undertook the symbolic trek.
According to him, the procession is carried out annually to commemorate the 40th day of Ashura, as a mark of mourning the killing of Imam Husain, grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, by the army of Yazid, son of Mu’awiyyah in 61 AH, Premium Times reports.
Usman said the trekkers would finally converge at Hussainiyyah Baqiyyatullah in Zaria on December 3 for the grand Arba’een lecture by the leader of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria, Sheikh Ibraheem Zakzaky.
Members of the group were on their annual Arba’een symbolic trek from Kano to Hussainiyyah Baqiyyatullah ground in Zaria, Kaduna state, when the bomber struck.


Meanwhile, two leaders of the movement, Muhammad Turi and Sayyed Mustapha, have ordered the continuation of the procession, adding that no amount of threat would stop them.
The leaders, who arrived at the scene of the incident, ordered the immediate removal of the dead and injured to ease traffic congestion.
It was reported that 45 people sustained various degrees of injuries from the blast.
The annual trekking event usually involves thousands of Muslims across northern Nigeria.  The group is led by Sheikh Ibrahim El-Zakzaky.
The attack in Kano comes barely four days after a female suicide bomber detonated her improvised explosive device (IED) on Maiduguri-Mafa road in Borno state, killing eleven people in the process.