A tragic incident has rocked the Bassa community in Shiroro Local Government Area (LGA) of Niger State, as one farmer, Dauda Haruna, was killed, and four others, including three siblings, were severely injured in suspected bomb explosions.
The explosion occurred on Thursday morning while the victims were on their way to their farm to harvest crops.
According to reports from residents, the first explosion took place while three siblings—Mali (20), Nehemiah (14), and Jona (15)—were traveling on a motorcycle between Bassa and Gwadara communities.
The second explosion went off when a group of rescuers arrived at the scene, and one of their motorcycles triggered the bomb, resulting in the death of Dauda Haruna, one of the rescuers.
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Mr. Enoch, the father of the three injured children, shared his heartbreaking experience with our correspondent at the IBB Specialist Hospital in Minna, where the victims are being treated.
Struggling to hold back tears, he recounted the terrifying moment when he and his wife heard a loud explosion as they walked behind their children, who were ahead on the motorcycle.
“We were going to farm to harvest our crops. So, I asked my children to start going on bike while my wife and I followed on foot. They were far from us but we heard a heavy sound like gunshots. While we were discussing that it might be bandits, someone coming from the same direction told us that some children had stepped on a bomb. I knew they were my children.
“Two people who came from Bassa on a rescue mission again stepped on another bomb close to the scene of my children. Unfortunately, one lost his life,” he explained.
Two of the siblings, Nehemiah and Jonah and one of the rescuers, Abdullahi Shuaibu lost one leg each.
An eyewitness, Sa’adu Shuaibu, told Daily Trust that one of the victims who died was taking loafs of bread to the neighbouring villages when he met the three siblings in distress, with their legs shattered.
“When he saw the children, because he could not help them alone, he rushed to the community to tell us to go and rescue them. So, he picked one person on his bike and on their way, they stepped on another bomb. Unfortunately, the victim who rode the bike died while the person he took lost one of his legs,” he said.
One of residents, Ahmed Al-Mustapha, appealed to the state and federal governments to come to their aid.
When contacted, the Spokesperson for the Niger State Police Command, SP Wasiu Abiodun, promised to find out about the incident and revert but was yet to do so at the time of filing this report.
Calls put across to the Niger State Commissioner for Homeland Security, Brigadier General Bello Abdullahi Mohammed (RTD) went unanswered. He did not also reply to a message sent to his phone.