Lucky Obukohwo, Reporting
Bomb explosion has rocked Bassa community of Shiroro Local Government Area of Niger State, killing one person and injuring four others in the process.
The incident, which occurred on Thursday morning, was said to have killed a middle-aged man as he was heading to his farm within the community.
This latest explosion comes barely two weeks after a similar incident killed another farmer while he was returning from his farm in the same Bassa community.
A source close to Bassa community but preferred anonymity, said that the first explosion, two weeks ago, was planted by suspected bandits, targeting members of the Joint Security Task Force recently deployed to the area after the community was sacked in April this year by the bandits.
Although details are still awaited on the latest incident, a member of the community, who identified himself only as Ahmed Almustapha, said three of the four injured victims lost their legs in the explosion and are currently receiving treatment at a government health facility in Minna, the state capital.
According to him, the three victims are his sister’s children, and he mentioned that this is the second explosion in Bassa community this month.
He also said that the first explosion, two weeks ago, claimed one life when the victim was heading to his farm.
He appealed to the Niger State Government and the federal government to come to their assistant and address the current situation.
It could be recalled that Bassa community had come under heavy attacks from gunmen suspected to be Boko Haram insurgents in April this year, forcing the entire community to flee from their homes.
No fewer than 30 people were killed during the attacks, with 20 of the victims having their heads cut off by the gunmen, who warned members of the community not to return.
This prompted the state government to deploy a joint security task force to the area in June, restoring normalcy to the community. The people then began to return to their homes.
It was gathered that the gunmen, now helpless due to the deployment of the joint security task force, have resorted to indiscriminately planting of explosive devices along major roads in the community, specifically targeting members of the joint security task force.