An Improvised Explosive Device (IED) detonated in Mafa Local Government Area of Borno State, injuring five children, one of whom suffered the traumatic loss of a hand.
The incident occurred on Thursday, May 8, 2025, around 2:25pm near a culvert along the access road leading to a construction site at the New Mafa Central Mosque.
According to preliminary findings, the children accidentally triggered the hidden IED, which had been concealed in block holes at the site.
The victims, identified as Abdullahi Umar, Musa Mele, Fatima Abatcha, Abba Kawu Muhammed, and Khalid Alhaji Bukar, all residents of Mafa town, sustained varying degrees of injuries from the blast.
A coordinated emergency response was launched by the Explosive Ordnance Disposal-Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear (EOD-CBRN) Unit, officers from the Mafa Police Division, and members of the Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF).
The area was secured, and a thorough search for secondary devices was conducted. Fragments of the IED, crafted using tin containers, were recovered and safely neutralized.
Four of the injured children were transferred to the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital (UMTH) for advanced medical care, while the fifth, who sustained minor injuries, was treated and discharged from Mafa General Hospital.
In the aftermath, the EOD-CBRN team launched an Explosive Ordnance Risk Education (EORE) campaign to sensitize children and residents in Mafa on the dangers of unexploded devices, an ongoing threat in communities still recovering from years of insurgency.
Credit: Daily Post except headline
