Four Boko Haram insurgents were sighted rendering prayers around the University of Maiduguri, ahead of an attack in the metropolitan city.
A military source disclosed this to TheCable, saying it happened on Thursday.
The source said four teenagers were seen seen lying down as dead bodies while an elderly man conducted the ritual.
He said the military was tipped off following the arrest of a Boko Haram member who concealed fuel, diesel, and other consumables in a sack.
The source said the suspect made some confession during interrogation.
“The man who was arrested and questioned revealed that he was providing bomb-making materials for insurgents who were preparing to strike at a mosque the next morning,” the source said.
“After we gathered such information, we then went close to the location and laid ambush for them. At exactly 2am, four men appeared with torchlight. An elderly man joined them a while later and they began to observe the prayers which is usually performed on the dead Islamically.
“Each of them laid down flat like dead bodies. The acclaimed dead bodies laid on their backs and their heads were facing the right side of the person offering prayers.
“Regrettably, the mission was disrupted by a soldier whose phone rang. After the phone rang, they fled. We opened fire on them, but they had gone ran into the bush and there was nothing we could do because it was at night and everywhere was dark. We later recovered all the items.”
There have been multiple suicide attacks in Borno and two north-eastern states – Adamawa and Borno.
On Friday, four suicide bombers detonated their explosives at two locations at Mainari Kanuri and Mainari Shuwa, communities in Borno, killing themselves and injuring about seven persons.
