JUST IN: 19 Killed as Bomb Explodes at Local Joint

A devastating explosion at a local joint in Kawuri village, Konduga Local Government Area of Borno State, claimed the lives of at least 19 people on Wednesday night. The blast, caused by an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) suspected to have been planted by Boko Haram insurgents, occurred around 8:05 PM as villagers gathered for their usual evening chat.

This tragic incident comes just three days after insurgents attacked a police station in Jakana town, also in Konduga LGA, where a policeman and a woman were killed, and two patrol vans were set ablaze.

A local government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, described the chaotic aftermath. “Nobody can say exactly how it happened, but we suspected that the bomb was planted, not a suicide attack. We saw corpses of 19 people with an unspecified number of civilians injured. The injured were evacuated to an undisclosed hospital in Maiduguri for treatment.”

Kawuri village is situated approximately 50 kilometers from Maiduguri, the state capital. This attack follows another IED explosion just 24 hours earlier, which claimed the life of Shettima Mustapha, an accountant with the Local Education Authority in Damboa, when his vehicle hit an IED on the Maiduguri-Damboa-Biu highway.

Efforts to reach the Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Kenneth Daso, for comments were unsuccessful as his phone was unreachable at the time of reporting.

The incident occurs on the eve of a planned nationwide protest, raising concerns about potential hijacking by hoodlums and terrorists, as warned by the government.