The death toll from a series of Boko Haram related bomb blasts in Maiduguri in north eastern Nigeria has risen to at least 117, more than twice the official tally, hospital sources have said.
a total of 72 deaths were registered at the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital, while another 45 bodies were taken to the mortuary located at the Borno State Specialist Hospital.
Borno state’s capital has been hit repeatedly since President Muhammadu Buhari came to power on May 29.
Buhari has promised to crush the Islamist militants’ insurgency.
Nigeria’s military claims that the Islamist militants are a spent force and that its troops have driven them from their camps and now occupy territory in the remote region.
The Sunday night blasts have however underlined the threat that the group still poses with its guerrilla-style tactics against soft civilian targets.
Borno police on Monday said that 54 people died and a further 90 were wounded in the bombings which hit worshippers at a mosque, football fans watching a televised match and other bystanders.
Locals however dispute these figures saying that at least 85 people had died and that some people had taken their loved ones killed in the blast directly for burial rather than to hospitals.
