No fewer than 19 persons have been reportedly killed after an Improvised Explosive Device, IED, exploded at a local joint in the Kawuri community, Konduga Local government area of Borno State.

DAILY POST learnt that the incident, which occurred on Wednesday, also injured an unspecified number of residents.

The explosive device was suspected to have been planted by Boko Haram insurgents causing chaos in the North-East.

It could be recalled that similar incidents have been happening in the last few days, with several persons, including seven Nigerian soldiers killed.

A government official, who confirmed the latest incident to Daily Trust, 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.

DAILY POST reports that the development came hours before the scheduled nationwide protests over hunger in Nigeria.

Nigerian youths have concluded plans to stage mass protests across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, beginning from today, Thursday.