ionigeria.com Nigerian Newspaper
The authorities in Kaduna State say at least seven children have been wounded after an explosive device they mistakenly picked from a farm detonated.
The incident happened in Ungwan-Mangworo village in Igabi area, said the state commissioner for internal security Samuel Aruwan.
He said the children picked up the device and began to play with it.
The victims have been evacuated to a hospital in the city of Zaria where they are receiving treatment.
It’s not clear how the explosive device found itself on the farm near the community but the state Governor Nasir el-Rufai has ordered “detailed investigations.”
The Tuesday incident comes barely 48 hours after a similar one involving an abandoned explosive device killed at least six children and wounded a number of others in a remote village in neighbouring Zamfara state.
The boys and girls mistook the device for a metal scrap when they picked it up on the outskirts of the village.
The victims aged between eight and 12 mistakenly picked it up as they went to the outskirts of Magamin-Diddi village to fetch cornstalks – commonly used as a source of fire for cooking in the community.
Four of those killed were members of the same family.
Zamfara state commissioner for internal security Abubakar Dauran, said the explosive device was likely left by security forces following recent operations against armed criminal gangs in the remote area.
North-western Nigeria is grappling with activities of gunmen who carry out deadly attacks on communities as well as kidnap people for ransom, the government has deployed thousands of troops there.
