Landmine blast in Nigeria kills 7 loggers, injures 5 others

LAGOS, Nigeria (AA) – At least seven loggers were killed and five others injured in Nigeria’s volatile northeast Borno State when their vehicle hit a landmine, a local official said.

Bakura Abba, head of the local volunteer guard or the Civilian Joint Task Force, told he media that the incident occurred in a remote area of Konduga, the center of a Local Government Area of the same name in northeast Borno State, when a truck carrying loggers hit a landmine.

“The loggers were looking for logs of wood to turn into charcoal for commercial purposes. Unfortunately, they were victims of a landmine, and seven of them died,” he reported over the phone.

Five others were also injured and are currently being treated in a local hospital, he added.

The incident was not immediately known due to a breakdown in telecommunications in the area, which has been plagued by violence for more than a decade, particularly by Boko Haram and ISIS-affiliated local militias.

Locals told the media that rebels plant explosives and mines on roads and near communities to target security forces, but that these landmines also kill civilians.

West African states have faced violent insurgency by rightwing radical groups aiming to rid the region of Western influence by taking up violent means that have severely harmed national security.