Suicide bombers strike in Nigeria

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DAMATURU, Nigeria, Aug. 5 (UPI) -- A driver slammed a vehicle loaded with explosives into a Nigerian military convoy Sunday, killing at least five soldiers and himself, The Daily Times reported.

The Nigerian newspaper said Patrick Egbuniwe, the state police commissioner, confirmed the attack in Damaturu in Yobe state, but did not provide a figure for casualties. The Daily Times cited an unnamed source for the death toll.

Egbuniwe said the suicide bomber was in a sport utility vehicle being chased by a military patrol vehicle and the driver detonated his explosives when soldiers converged on him.

Egbuniwe said the jihadist terrorist group Boko Haram was suspected to be responsible.

The suicide blast came the day after the Nigerian navy said two of its personnel were killed and two others were injured in an attack by gunmen on an oil platform belonging to Sea Truck Oil Servicing Co, The Daily Times said. Commodore Kabir Aliyu, director of naval information, said four workers from Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia and Thailand, and three sailors were abducted in the attack off the coast of Bonny, Rivers state.

"We have not made any arrest yet. We are still trying to ascertain the true identities of the attackers and their motive," he said. "We are still searching.

"We have not established any contact with the attackers or the foreigners abducted."

Nigeria's Leadership newspaper reported the emir of Fika in Yobe state, Muhammadu Abali Ibn Muhammadu Idrissa, avoided being killed Friday when a suicide bomber detonated an explosive nearby as he made his way out of a mosque.

A witness, Mallam Garba Inusa, said a police officer lost an arm protecting Idrissa from the blast, which killed the bomber and wounded 18 other worshipers, Leadership said.

A suspected suicide bomber was killed Thursday night in Kaduna when the improvised explosive device he was carrying detonated. There were no other reported injuries in that incident.