Bomb attack in north Nigeria teahouse kills 19

KANO, Nigeria: A bomb exploded in a teahouse in a village in northeast Nigeria, killing 19 people and wounding two dozen more, the second major attack in a few weeks, security sources said on Thursday.

The blast in Kawuri village in Borno State on Wednesday evening was one of the deadliest in recent years in northeast Nigeria, where violence from a grinding jihadist conflict has been on the decline.

“There was an explosion at a tea joint in Kawuri around 8:00 pm yesterday. We have recovered 19 dead bodies and 27 injured,” Ibrahim Liman, a member of an anti-jihadist militia that works with the army, told AFP.

Two other militiamen confirmed the toll in Kawuri, around 50-kms from the state capital Maiduguri.

No group has claimed responsibility for Wednesday´s blast, but the Boko Haram jihadist group and their rivals Islamic State West Africa Province are both active in Borno.

The curfew was imposed as Nigerians demonstrated nationwide Thursday over a cost of living crisis, including in the capital Abuja and in Maiduguri.

“Boko Haram struck in Kawuri last night. They took us all by surprise because it has been a while without such attacks,” Babakura Kolo, a militia commander, told AFP. The wounded were transported to hospitals in Maiduguri, he said.