Graphic photo of the suicide bomber that struck the Borno state government secretariat today

According to a statement released by the Nigerian Army this afternoon, a combined team of Nigeria policemen maintaining security duties at the entrance of Borno State Government Secretariat, (which was known as Musa Usman Secretariat) in Maiduguri, intercepted and prevented a male suicide bomber from entering to attack workers based on suspicion.

Unfortunately, in the process of stopping him, he detonated the Improvised Explosive Device (IED) on his body, instantly killing himself, a policeman and critically injuring another policeman that stopped him from gaining entry into the Secretariat Complex. Sadly, the injured policeman died later. Similarly, 18 people have sustained various degrees of injuries and have since been evacuated to hospital for treatment. Troops have cordoned off the area and evacuated all workers from the Secretariat and reinforced security. In addition, the Explosive Ordinance Device (EOD) and K9 teams have been mobilized to the Secretariat for screening until it is declared safe.