General Muhammadu Buhari’s Convoy Was Target Of 2nd Kaduna Bombing, 3 Aides Injured

The first explosion targeted moderate Islamic cleric Dahiru Bauchi while the second one targeted senior opposition leader Muhammadu Buhari, a BBC reporter in the city says.

Both are said to have escaped unhurt. Three aides attached to General Muhammadu Buhari have been confirmed injured in the second Bomb blast in Kaduna this afternoon at Kawo on their way to Duara.

Sources say the Bomb blast was said to be targeted Buhari, a leader of Nigeria’s opposition All Progressives Congress, APC, as the bombers trailed his convoy before they detonated the bomb a few meters to his convoy injuring his security and personal aides.

The general is in good condition apart. Militant Islamist group Boko Haram has carried out a wave of bombings and assassinations in Nigeria since it launched a brutal insurgency in 2009.

It often targets Muslim leaders opposed to its militant ideology. There are body parts and damaged cars on the busy Alkali Road in the city centre where the bomb targeting the Cleric Mr Bauchi exploded.

Police said at least 25 people were killed in the blast, apparently caused by a suicide bomber.

It is unclear how many people were killed in the second blast.

Mr Bauchi had completed a preaching session in the nearby Murtala Muhammed square, and was driving through the area in an open-roofed vehicle, greeting well-wishers when he was targeted.

Followers of the renowned cleric have reacted angrily, throwing stones at the security forces and accusing them of failing to protect Nigerians, our reporter says.

The security forces retaliated by firing tear gas.

About 90 minutes after the first attack, a second explosion ripped through the Kawo area, targeting the motorcade of Gen Buhari, a former military ruler of Nigeria and a senior member All Progressive Congress opposition party.

Gunmen rammed a vehicle into his convoy, firing shots at it, our reporter says, adding that two of Gen Buhari’s bodyguards were slightly wounded in the attack.

In May, the emir of the northern area of Gwoza, Shehu Mustapha Idris Timta, was shot dead in an attack blamed on Boko Haram.

In January 2013, the then-emir of Kano, Al Haji Ado Bayero, survived an assassination attempt.