Fotokol bomb blast is not a suicide bomb attack – MINDEF

Human casualties of the Fotokol bomb blast of Monday 6th January 2020 in the Far North region of Cameroon stand at nine dead.

According to a release from the communication service at the ministry of defense in Cameroon, those killed in the blast “…are seemingly all Nigerians”.

The release signed by commander Cyrille Serge Atonfack Guemo; head of the communication department at the ministry of defense states that 21 Nigerians and 5 Cameroonians were wounded. The wounded are receiving medical attention in Gamburu – Nigeria and Fotokol in Cameroon.

To the ministry of defense, “two small boys at about 2:30pm from Ngala periodic market at the Nigeria side of bridge EL Beid were manipulating a grenade they found in the sand of the locality and they decided to sell the grenade to the highest bidder so as to make money”. The release adds that it is as a result of “this reckless manipulation that the grenade exploded”.

By explaining this, the Cameroon defence service says investigation and eye witness account with the survivors of the incident proof with certainty that it was not a suicide bomb attack.

Some commentators however say explanations of a seeming free commercialization of grenade in the area points at the level of insecurity in the locality due to the activities of Boko Haram insurgents.