Five children were killed on Thursday while playing with a disused grenade outside Ngala community in Borno State, a town that shares the border with Cameroon.

This was confirmed by some militiamen on Friday, AFP reports.

Anti-jihadist militiaman Umar Kachalla said,

The five children picked up the explosive while herding in a field outside the town, it exploded in their hands as they were playing with it.

Two of them died on the spot while the other three died in hospital in Mada, inside Cameroon.

Another militiaman, Umar Ari, gave a similar account of the incident.

In August 2014, the Boko Haram terrorist group raided Ngala along with the nearby trading hub of Gamboru.

The two towns were recaptured in September 2015 by Nigerian troops with the help of Chadian forces following a months-long offensive.

Ari said unexploded mines and grenades from the conflict still litter the surrounding countryside and many children had been killed or injured.

In December 2019, nine people were killed and 26 injured when an explosive device went off on a crowded bridge linking Gamboru and Fotokol.

Residents blamed the explosion on a grenade disguised as a toy that, they said, had been given to some children as a gift by a Boko Haram insurgent.

Justin Nwosu

Justin Nwosu is the founder and publisher of Flavision. His core interest is in writing unbiased news about Nigeria in particular and Africa in general. He’s a strong adherent of investigative journalism, with a bent on exposing corruption, abuse of power and societal ills.