Seven pupils injured as ‘IED’ explodes in Benue school

Seven pupils have been injured after a suspected improvisedexplosive device (IED) went off at LGEA Primary School, Ater Ayange in Ukum LGAof Benue state. Zagazola Makama, a counterinsurgency publication focused onthe Lake Chad region, said the incident occurred at about 2 pm on September 16. The publication said the explosion happened when some pupilsfound an object on the school premises and began playing with it, unaware itwas an explosive. Makama said the victims were taken to a hospital inZaki-Biam where they are receiving treatment and said to be responding well. The publication added that the incident was not reported tothe police until September 18 when the divisional police officer in Ukum gotinformation and deployed a patrol team to the school and hospital. When contacted, Udeme Edet, police spokesperson in thestate, told TheCable that the command’s explosive ordnance disposal unit hasbeen deployed to sweep the area and determine the nature of the device. Edet added that the criminal investigation department hasalso opened an inquiry into the incident. “The police is already on top of it. The EOD team were sentto Ukum LGA to sweep the scene for possible recovery of other hidden explosiveobjects,” Edet said.

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