Bomb Explosion In Nigeria's Borno Cafe Kills 16 People

ILLUSTRATION//Maps

EEN people were killed when a bomb blew up a village cafe in Nigeria's Borno state, which is the center of the Boko Haram militant insurgency.

No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack that also injured some of these people.

Police spokesman Nahum Kenneth Daso said on Thursday, August 1, the government had imposed a curfew 24 hours after the attack, which occurred just a week after a landmine explosion on highways in the state of Borno that killed seven soldiers.

Local resident Kachallah Goni told Reuters he heard a loud explosion at around 19.30 a.m. on Wednesday, July 31 at a popular cafe in Kawuri village, a few kilometers from Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state.

Mustapha Modu, a local resident, said he found 20 bodies from the cafe.

Nigeria faces a series of security challenges including longstanding Islamic group insurgencies in the northeast, separatist violence in the southeast, rampant oil theft in Delta Niger, and kidnappings to seek ransom by criminal gangs.

On Thursday, thousands of people staged protests in Nigerian cities against widespread insecurity, rising cost of living, and government issues.