A suspected Boko Haram suicide bomber detonated a bomb at a marketplace in Kauri, a rural community in the Konduga area of Borno State, North East Nigeria.
The incident occurred around 9 pm on Wednesday, July 31, at the market area, which operates at night every day and is usually bustling with people.
The areas, mainly settlements of roadside communities situated along the Bama-Maiduguri road, have been frequently terrorised by Boko Haram.
This recent attack is one of several that the communities have faced in the past couple of months.
Local sources reported multiple casualties.
A policeman and one woman were killed in that attack while two patrol vans were set ablaze.
A government official from the village said the bomb went off around 8:05 pm at a local tea joint where the villagers gathered for a night chat, adding that dozens of people also got injured.
“Nobody can say exactly how it happened, but we suspected that the bomb was planted, not a suicide attack.
“We saw corpses of 19 people with an unspecified number of civilians injured. The injured were evacuated to an undisclosed hospital in Maiduguri for treatment,” the source said on condition of anonymity.
Kawuri community is located around 50 kilometres from Maiduguri, the state capital.
The incident occurred 24 hours after an Accountant working with the Local Education Authority in Damboa Local Government Area, Shettima Mustapha, was killed when his vehicle ran into an IED along the Maiduguri -Damboa-Biu highway in Borno.
The incident comes on the eve of the planned nationwide protest, which the government has repeatedly said could be hijacked by hoodlums and terrorists.
