The attack on a Maiduguri market was in reprisal for the recent arrest of a sect member by traders.

At least 30 people were shot dead in the Baga Fish Market in the north eastern Nigerian city of Maiduguri on Monday February 20, 2012 when Boko Haram Islamic fundamentalists attacked the area, firing indiscriminately at traders and exploding bombs. Nigerian Tribune newspaper reported that the attack that took place at about 1.30 pm local time was in apparent reprisal for the arrest last week of a suspected Boko Haram member in the market by the traders. He was later handed over to the Joint Military Task Force, JTF, security outfit.

An eyewitness told the Nigerian Tribune that the attack led to the closure of the market with traders fleeing for their lives after the JTF intervened to repel the militants. News agency reports quoting military and medical sources in the city put the death toll at over 30. Witnesses also told the British Broadcasting Corporation, BBC, that they heard three loud explosions in the market.

JTF Spokesman, Lt. Col. Hassan Mohammed, confirmed the attack but put the death toll at eight Boko Haram members killed. A nurse in one of the local hospitals told the Nigerian Tribune that the number of dead was not less than 30. Security forces said they later discovered three unexploded bombs near the market that were detonated.

Meanwhile, investigations into the nature and source of explosives used by Boko Haram in recent bomb attacks across the country have revealed that most of them came from raids on warehouses of construction companies in Borno, Bauchi, Gombe and Sokoto States. Particularly targeted by sect members were Type C4 explosives used in blasting huge rocks and that are said to be very deadly.

Arrested Boko Haram Spokesman, Abu Qaqa, reportedly told interrogators that the vehicles used in attacks were all stolen. While some are sold to make money for the group, the exotic ones are kept for the sect’s leader, Abubakar Shekau, The Guardian of Nigeria cited Qaqa as saying. Also, the alleged mastermind of the 2012 Christmas Day bombing of a church near the capital, Abuja, Kabiru Sokoto, reportedly told interrogators that widows of sect members who die in suicide bomb attacks are shared among the group’s leadership, the local press reported. Meanwhile, the Central Bank of Nigeria on Monday donated 25 million Naira (about FCFA 78 billion) to victims of the 2012 Christmas Day bombing.