Explosive kills soldier, 4 civilians around military checkpoint

One soldier and four civilians were on Sunday killed around a military checkpoint in Borno state.

Sani Usman, spokesman of the army, confirmed the incident, saying it happened along Biu-Damboa road.

He said the explosion occurred after a tricycle, popularly known as ‘Keke Marwa’ ran into mines suspected to have been planted by Boko Haram insurgents.

“At about 8.15am today a tricycle, known as ‘Keke NAPEP’ unknowingly stepped on an Improvise Explosive Device (IED) planted by the side of Biu -Damboa road close to a military checkpoint at the outskirts of Biu town, Borno State,” Usman said in a statement.

“Unfortunately, the IED exploded instantly killing 4 persons comprising of a woman with her baby and 2 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 added that the area had been cordoned off and an explosive ordinance device (EOD) team has been mobilised to carry out further search of the area.

He called on members of the public to cooperate in its bid to wipe out insurgency, saying the incident would not deter the military from achieving its aim.

“Preliminary investigations shows that the IED was buried long time ago undetected. It exploded when the tricycle erroneously stepped on it,” he said.

“This unfortunate development has brought to the fore, the need for more security consciousness and vigilance among all.

“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 members of the public to enable us succeed in the fight against the remnants of these criminal elements going by the appellation “Boko Haram terrorists”.