20 killed & 30 injured in bomb blast & gunfire in Potiskum, Yobe State

Over 20 persons were said to have been killed in an early morning blast that rocked the commercial town of Potiskum in Yobe State, on Wednesday.

Following the blast and subsequent exchange of gunfire between soldiers and suspected members of the Boko Haram sect, hundreds of passengers travelling through Potiskum to Abuja and other parts of the southern states were locked up on the highway while the gunfire lasted.

Yobe State Commissioner of Police, Patrick Egbuniwe, confirmed that there was an explosion and the JTF had cordoned off the town for the safety of innocent civilians.He said “right now, there is house to house check to fish out the perpetrators.”

Also confirming the incident, the JTF said the attack at Anguwar Jaji (Jigawa) left a policeman dead, while a soldier sustained injury and four houses completely burnt by the sect.

It was gathered that trouble started when men of the JTF went to arrest some suspected Boko Haram members at Anguwar Jaji Potiskum in the early hours of the day.