Boy triggers grenade explosion that kills nine on Nigeria-Cameroon border

A grenade explosion has killed at least nine Nigerians and injured 26 others on a border bridge linking Nigeria and Cameroon.

The governor of Cameroon’s Far North Region, Midninyawa Bakary, told BBC that the blast happened when a child, reportedly under the age of 10, found a grenade in a bin and mistook it for scrap metal.

A resident of Gamborou, a town in the Nigerian side of the border, said the boy was playing with the grenade when it exploded and killed him and the people around.

Bakary said all the dead were Nigerians but there were several Cameroonians among the wounded. The injured have been taken to a local hospital in the area.

Security officials have also begun investigations on how the explosive device got in the bin and if there were other motives behind the explosion.

The area is an important hub for traders linking north-eastern Nigeria with Cameroon.