One person has been reported killed and four others, including three siblings, injured in a suspected bomb explosion in the Bassa community of Shiroro LGA, Niger State.
According to Daily Trust, the incident occurred on Thursday morning between Bassa and Gwadara communities as the victims were heading to their farm to harvest crops.
Residents informed Daily Trust that the first explosion detonated while the three siblings—Mali (20), Nehemiah (14), and Jona (15)—were riding a motorcycle. The second explosion occurred when a motorcycle belonging to rescuers triggered another bomb, resulting in the death of one of the rescuers, Dauda Haruna.
Mr. Enoch, the father of the siblings, fought back tears as he recounted the harrowing events to our correspondent at the IBB Specialist Hospital in Minna, where the injured were receiving treatment.
He mentioned that this marks the second time bombs have exploded in Bassa this month.
Enoch explained that while he and his wife were walking to the farm, their children were ahead on the bike. They heard a loud sound that initially seemed like gunfire. “We were going to harvest our crops. I told the children to take the bike while my wife and I followed on foot. They were quite a distance ahead when we heard a booming noise. As we speculated that it might be bandits, someone coming from that direction informed us that children had triggered a bomb. I knew immediately they were my children.”
“Then, two people who came from Bassa to help stepped on another bomb near where my children were. Tragically, one of them lost his life,” he explained.
Nehemiah and Jonah, along with one of the rescuers, Abdullahi Shuaibu, each suffered the loss of a leg.
An eyewitness, Sa’adu Shuaibu, told Daily Trust that one of the deceased was on his way to deliver loaves of bread to neighbouring villages when he came upon the three siblings in distress, their legs severely injured.
“He saw the children and realised he couldn’t assist them alone, so he dashed back to the community to summon help. He picked up one person on his bike, but on their way to rescue the children, they stepped on another bomb. Sadly, the rider died, and the person he had on his bike lost a leg,” he reported.
Local resident Ahmed Almustapha urged both state and federal governments to provide assistance to the community.
When contacted, the spokesperson for the Niger State Police Command, SP Wasiu Abiodun, promised to investigate the incident and report back, but had not done so by the time of this report. Efforts to reach the Niger State Commissioner for Homeland Security, Brigadier General Bello Abdullahi Mohammed (RTD), went unanswered, and he did not respond to a phone message.
