41 Boko Haram members beheaded in Borno'Defence chief's home burnt in AdamawaMore than 30 people died and many got injured on Friday morning when a bomb went off at a popular motor park in Gombe, Gombe State.Three suspects were however arrested in connection with the explosion at the Gombe Motor Park.The State Commissioner of Police, Mr Kudu Nma, told newsmen in Gombe that a vehicle with an inscription 'Yobe Line' was reported to have brought the suspected bombers to the park.'A vehicle which was suspected to have carried the bombers who came in with Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) was recovered.'Unfortunately for them, they were caught when they were about to run away,' he said.The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported that the explosion went off around 9.30 a.m. at the park, leaving about 30 dead and several others with various degrees of injuries.The explosion had occurred at a time when many passengers were at the park boarding vehicles to various destinations.NAN reported that there was pandemonium around the area immediately after the incident as hundreds of youths from different directions descended on the park.They threw stones at security personnel and other rescue workers who were evacuating corpses and the injured.The security operatives had to shoot into the air to disperse the youth.The bodies of the victims were later conveyed to the Gombe Specialist Hospital, while those injured were also taken to other hospitals for treatment.At the Specialist Hospital, a mortuary attendant who pleaded for anonymity said about 30 corpses were deposited there.The police in the state, however, said nine people died in the explosion, which no individual or group claimed responsibility for as of the time of filing this report.An eye witness, who identified himself as Bello Sule, said he counted not less than 23 bodies being taken away from the scene of the incident, adding that the injured were taken to different hospitals in the metropolis.He added that about 12 18-seater buses in the premises of Gombe Line Park as of the time of the explosion were completely destroyed.'This is very sad. You know Gombe Line Park is always a beehive as people travelling to different parts of the state and other parts of the country always come around to board buses.'I counted not less than 23 bodies being taken away after the explosion, while many people were injured,' Sule told journalists.While narrating what happened, the Commissioner of Police told reporters at the scene of the explosion that nine people were confirmed dead.He, however, said that three suspects were arrested while trying to run away from the scene, saying that the suspects had parked their bus with a Yobe State registration number and brought out a luggage which exploded a few minutes later.He said that operatives of Police Ordinance Department had commenced investigation into the matter with a view to determining whether the said bus the suspects came with was laden with improvised explosive devices (IEDs) or not.According to the police boss, 'for now, three suspects have been apprehended and we are reasonably suspecting they are the people who brought in the Improvised Explosive Device (IED).'Whether the vehicle was laden with IEDs, we cannot determine now until our EOD make their investigation to determine that that very particular vehicle mentioned was already parked with IED or they came in the way they did in Azare last week.'Meanwhile, the park and the surrounding area have been cordoned off while normalcy has been restored.Also, many residents of the city have been visiting the hospital, trying to check if their relatives were among the victims.Soldiers behead 41 Boko Haram membersA team of soldiers and members of the vigilance group, otherwise known as Civilian JTF, have reportedly killed 41 Boko Haram members during a gun battle in Gur, near Mandafuma village, in Biu Local Government Area of Adamawa State.It was gathered that the battle, which lasted for about two hours, occurred after a failed attempt by the insurgents to overrun Sabon Gari in Damboa Local Government Area.A member of the Civilian JTF, Umar Hassan, confirmed the development to Saturday Tribune.According to him, after the shootout, the heads of the dead insurgents were severed and taken to Biu to convince the people that the Boko Haram members were only human and so they should not fear them.Hassan said the security operatives had repelled the insurgents after getting wind of their march to Sabon Gari to attack the residents who were just returning home after spending about three months in refugee camps spread across the state.He said after the insurgents were repelled, they headed towards Mandafuma, taking the route to Gur, but soldiers and members of the Civilian JTF ambushed them.'After the fierce battle, 41 of them were killed and one was taken alive. No soldier was killed in the shootout.'After they were killed, we cut off their heads and took them to Biu in order to encourage the people to stand against Boko Haram, who are destroying our villages despite the supposedly ceasefire agreement with the government,' Hassan said.Boko Haram burns CDS' house, kills emir's sonINDICATION emerged on Friday in Abuja that Boko Haram insurgents have razed the house of the Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh, in Vimtim, Adamawa State.Informed military sources told Saturday Tribune that the insurgents also destroyed a clinic built in memory of Badeh's mother, who died last year.According to a source, the clinic was also being used to treat wounded Nigerian soldiers.The source revealed that a son of the Emir of Mubi was killed during the insurgents' onslaught.It was gathered that the Emir had relocated to Yola, the state capital, before the attack.The insurgents are said to have taken over his palace and hoisted their flag there.The Boko Haram fighters had seized control of Michika, Madagali and other towns before their incursion into Mubi two days ago.A military source told Saturday Tribune that the 234 Battalion, believed to be fortified, did not resist the attack by the insurgents as the soldiers all ran away.Another military source told Saturday Tribune that the insurgents had entered the town in daytime and began unleashing mayhem on the residents in the night, killing scores of them in the process.Efforts to obtain information from the military authorities on the situation in Mubi were futile. It was mum at the defence headquarters, army headquarters and air force headquarters.However, a source said the military authorities were mapping out strategies to recapture those towns in the next few days.
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