This archive report was first published on 7 January 2020.
On January 7, 2020, a devastating explosion occurred in the Lake Chad area, situated at the border of Cameroon and Nigeria.
A grenade exploded in a market, claiming the lives of at least nine people and leaving 26 others injured.
According to Mr. Midjiyawa Bakary, Cameroon's Far North regional governor, the explosion was not a suicide attack.
Instead, he stated that some children playing on the Nigerian side of the El Beid bridge found the grenade and, as they were discussing what to do with it, it exploded.
Mr. Bakary further explained that the nine people who died were all Nigerians, while five of the 26 injured were Cameroonians.
The Lake Chad area has been prone to insecurity linked to the insurgency by the Boko Haram militant group.
Just last month, suspected Boko Haram militants killed at least 50 people in the area, some of whom were fishing on the lake.
Boko Haram began its bloody insurgency in northeastern Nigeria in 2009, spreading into neighboring Cameroon, Chad, and Niger.
