The Nigerian Army has said that a
commercial tricycle, known in local parlance as Keke NAPEP, detonated a
bomb when it unknowingly ran over an improvised explosive device (IED)
planted by the side of the Biu-Damboa road, close to a military
checkpoint on the outskirts of Biu town, Borno State.
A statement issued by the Nigerian Army spokesman, Col. Sani Kukasheka Usman, said the incident occurred at 8.15 am yesterday.
“Unfortunately, the IED exploded instantly killing four persons comprising a woman and her baby and two other male adults.
“Three other persons were injured
including a soldier and they were immediately evacuated to Biu General
Hospital. We regret to state that the injured soldier also died at the
hospital,” Usman said in the statement.
He said the general area was
immediately cordoned off and the Explosives Ordinance Device (EOD) team
from the Forward Operation Base (FOB) in Buratai was mobilised to carry
out a further search of the area.
“Preliminary investigations show that
the IED was buried a long time ago undetected. It exploded when the
tricycle erroneously ran over it,” he added.
The army commiserated with the
families of the victims of the incident, noting that the unfortunate
development brought to the fore the need for more security consciousness
and vigilance among Nigerians.
“We would like to reiterate that the
explosion would not deter us from seeing to the end of Boko Haram
terrorists wherever they might be hiding through our ongoing clearance
operations.
“We want to use this
opportunity to solicit for more cooperation from the public to enable us
succeed in the fight against the remnants of these criminal elements
going by the appellation ‘Boko Haram’,” he said.
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