Boko haram: Facebook activates Safety Check after Nigeria bombing

Facebook has again activated its Safety Check in a time of terror after a bombing in a marketplace in Yola, Nigeria killed dozens of citizens and injured many more.

This is the second time the company’s feature has been used in the wake of a terrorist attack, the first being the bombings and shootings that took place in Paris, France on Friday.

The blast killed at least 32 people and wounded 80 others. No one has claimed responsibility for the attacks, but it is thought to be the work of Boko Haram, an Islamic extremist group that was also responsible for the disappearance of hundreds of schoolgirls in 2014. 

The decision to activate Safety Check also comes after the company drew criticism for activating the feature for the attack in Paris, but not an attack in Beirut, Lebanon that killed more than 40 people. 

“Unfortunately, these kinds of events are all too common, so I won’t post about all of them,” CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a post on the platform. “A loss of human life anywhere is a tragedy, and we’re committed to doing our part to help people in more of these situations.”

Those possibly affected by the situation in Nigeria will be able to notify their loved ones of their safety.

“Every member of our community spreads empathy and understanding on a daily basis,” Zuckerberg added. “We are all connecting the world together. And if we all do our part, then one day there may no longer be attacks like this.”

A blast struck a market in the northeastern Nigerian city of Yola on Tuesday evening, killing at least 32 people and wounding 80 others, both the Red Cross and National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) said.

The explosion occurred at a fruit and vegetable market beside a main road in the Jimeta area of Adamawa’s state capital about 8 p.m. Tuesday night. The area, which also houses a livestock market, was crowded with shoppers.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility but the blast bore the hallmarks of Boko Haram, which has killed thousands over the last six years in its bid to create a state adhering to strict Sharia law in northeast Nigeria.

“Thirty-two people were killed and 80 have been injured,” said a Red Cross official who asked not to be named. NEMA regional spokesman Alhaji Sa’ad Bello later gave the same casualty figures.

Most victims were vendors and passers-by, said Deputy Superintendent Othman Abubakar, the police spokesman for Adamawa state.

Tuesday’s bombing came less than a month after at least 55 people died when suicide bombings struck two mosques in different cities in northeast Nigeria.

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