{"id":53414,"date":"2025-03-26T14:25:56","date_gmt":"2025-03-26T13:25:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ndarason.com\/en\/?p=53414"},"modified":"2025-03-26T14:25:56","modified_gmt":"2025-03-26T13:25:56","slug":"young-man-severely-wounded-in-ied-blast","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ndarason.com\/en\/young-man-severely-wounded-in-ied-blast\/","title":{"rendered":"Young man severely wounded in IED blast"},"content":{"rendered":"

Apprentice is still in hospital after mistakenly detonating an improvised explosive device he found while collecting firewood in a forest in the Gujba district of Yobe State.<\/strong><\/p>\n

A young man\u2019s leg was severely wounded and some of his fingers severed in an improvised explosive device (IED) blast in the Gujba district of Yobe State in Nigeria\u2019s northeast.<\/p>\n

Two other people were also wounded when the device detonated on Saturday, March 22.<\/p>\n

The three victims found the device while collecting firewood in the Ngomari community in Buni Yadi, the headquarters of the Gujba Local Government Area.<\/p>\n

Apart from the undetonated IED, the young men found an AK-47 assault rifle and bullets while scavenging in the bush.<\/p>\n

How the blast happened<\/strong><\/h5>\n

Malam Isyaku Dahiru, secretary of the Local Metal Fabricators Association in the Gujba district, said: \u201cOne of our apprentices found the IED, rifle and bullets and brought it to the market square where we forge metal.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe young man, who is 22, was collecting wood with two others in a forest in the nearby Ngomari community. He did not know what it was and tried to open the IED out of curiosity.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have warned firewood collectors and metal scavengers often in the past that if they find strange objects they should immediately report it to security operatives. But curiosity got the better of him.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe struck the device with a hammer trying to open it. That triggered the explosion. The 22-year-old\u2019s leg was severely wounded and some of his fingers were severed in the blast.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe other two were not as badly wounded. They were all taken to Yobe State Specialist Hospital in Buni Yadi for urgent treatment. They are still in hospital.\u201d<\/p>\n

Security situation in Gujba<\/strong><\/h5>\n

Mammadu Garundole, a journalist based in Damaturu, the capital of Yobe State, told Ndarason: \u201cSince the start of Ramadan fasting, insurgents have intensified attacks on major roads and in communities in the Gujba Local Government Area of Yobe State.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is believed that the IED might have been planted by Boko Haram [Jam\u0101\u2019at Ahl as-Sunnah lid-Da\u2019way Wa\u2019l-Jih\u0101d \u2013 JAS] insurgents. There have been a number of IED blasts. This is certainly not the first time. Insurgents often plant IEDs in the bush. Sometimes they throw IEDs into an open field to draw residents to the area and get their attention. Then they abduct them for ransom.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome people say the recent surge in attacks by insurgents is in revenge for a recent mission by the Nigerian military and other security operatives during which they conducted clearance operations on insurgent enclaves around the Gujba local council. Several insurgents were neutralised.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust recently \u2013 about six days ago \u2013 insurgents abducted several passengers in a car travelling along the Gujba-Damaturu road which is about 50km long. The military was able to rescue some of them but there are still some people missing,\u201d said Garundole.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot so long ago, insurgents also killed one of the top commanders of local hunters in Gujba.<\/p>\n

\u201cRight now, the roads are unsafe for travellers even though there is a heavy security presence.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome residents in communities in the Gujba district have fled from their villages and ancestral hometowns because of repeated attacks. Some have fled to Damaturu, others are taking refuge in Buni Yadi.<\/p>\n

\u201cResidents are fearful. They are afraid of staying in the more remote villages where they are easy prey for insurgents.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese days the security situation in Gujba is deteriorating despite the heavy security presence.\u201d<\/p>\n

More awareness<\/strong><\/h5>\n

Garundole said the Yobe State government and the military needed to hold meetings with locals to increase their awareness of the dangers of picking up or touching unknown objects.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is the only way to avoid such incidents. Young people are naturally curious \u2013 they must be told what to look out for.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is crucial for locals to report any suspicious objects \u2013 as well as strange people \u2013 to the nearest security post. It is only by working with security operatives that the situation will improve. Urgent action is needed to address the deteriorating security situation in Gujba,\u201d Garundole said.<\/p>\n

Common tactic<\/strong><\/h5>\n

Planting IEDs is a common tactic used by JAS and Islamic State West Africa (ISWAP) fighters in their battle against the military and other security operatives, particularly as counterinsurgency operations intensify.<\/p>\n

\u201cSadly, it is usually innocent people who are harmed or killed,\u201d Garundole said.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

SHETTIMA LAWAN MONGUNO<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Apprentice is still in hospital after mistakenly detonating an improvised explosive device he found while collecting firewood in a forest in the Gujba district of Yobe State. A young man\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":57,"featured_media":53415,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-53414","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-peace-and-security"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ndarason.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53414"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ndarason.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ndarason.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ndarason.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/57"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ndarason.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53414"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ndarason.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53414\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":53416,"href":"https:\/\/ndarason.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53414\/revisions\/53416"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ndarason.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/53415"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ndarason.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53414"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ndarason.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53414"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ndarason.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53414"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}