Soldier, four others die in Borno landmine blast

• Gunmen kill three in Benue
• Nigerians abroad want saboteurs of counter-insurgency war exposed

The Nigeria Army yesterday announced that a soldier and four other people were killed when a tricycle drove on to a landmine in Biu near a military checkpoint in Borno State.

A statement issued by the acting Director Army Public Relations (DAPR) Col. Sani Usman said the incident happened yesterday morning when a tricycle popularly known as “Keke NAPEP unknowingly drove on an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) planted by the side of Biu -Damboa road close to a military checkpoint at the outskirts of Biu town.

“Unfortunately, the IED exploded instantly killing 4 persons comprising of a woman with her baby and 2 other male adults. Three other persons were injured including a soldier who were immediately evacuated to Biu General Hospital. We regret to state that the injured soldier died at the hospital.”

And in Benue State, barely ten days after unidentified gunmen shot dead the Senior Special Assistant to Governor Samuel Ortom on Security at his resident in Makurdi, gunmen again at the weekend, killed three (3) persons in the capital city and its suburb.

Confirming the killings to The Guardian, Police spokesman in the state, ASP Moses Yamu, said a man and his wife were shot dead by yet-to-be identified gunmen in Agasha area of Guma Local Government Council while the other, a young man of 20 years, Friday Okoh, was killed by suspected cultists at North bank, in Makurdi.

Meanwhile, Nigerians in Diaspora Monitoring Group (NDMG) yesterday urged President Muhammadu Buhari to order an investigation into the role being played by the various stakeholders in Borno State in the intractable nature of the Boko Haram insurgency.

NDMG, in a statement by the UK Coordinator of NDMG, Adeka Onyilo stressed that the Presidency can no longer ignore ordering a special investigation into how other states to which the insurgency spread are now back on the way to recovery while violence persists in Borno State.