Reported by: Ijeoma G | Edited by: Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.
The sun was high over the Moduganari area of Maiduguri on Saturday, August 15, 2026, when a routine glance at a drainage slab turned into a moment of life‑or‑death urgency. A resident spotted an object that did not belong there – a rusted, cylindrical device that looked nothing like the debris that usually collects in the gutters. It was a hand grenade, unexploded and potentially lethal, lying in plain sight on the concrete cover of a drainage channel. The resident did not touch it. He did not move it. He did exactly what the authorities have been pleading with Borno residents to do for years: he called the police.
The Borno State Police Command received the report at about 12:40 p.m. and immediately mobilised operatives of the Explosive Ordnance Disposal and Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Unit, Base 13 Maiduguri, under the directives of the Commissioner of Police, CP Naziru Abdulmajid. The EOD‑CBRN team promptly arrived at the scene, cordoned off the area, and safely recovered the unexploded ordnance without any incident. The device was subsequently secured for further examination, while investigators began the painstaking work of tracing its origin and determining how it came to be on a drainage slab in a residential neighbourhood.
ASP Nahum Kenneth Daso, the Police Public Relations Officer for the Borno State Command, disclosed the recovery in a statement on Saturday, confirming that the item was identified as a hand grenade and had been taken into police custody. Daso noted that the Commissioner of Police commended the vigilance of the members of the public who promptly alerted the police, and reiterated the command's commitment to protecting lives and property across the state. He also issued a stern warning to residents: do not touch, move or tamper with any suspected explosive device. "The Borno State Police Command remains committed to ensuring the safety and security of all residents and urges continued cooperation and timely reporting of suspicious objects or activities," the statement read.
The recovery of the hand grenade is the latest in a long and troubling pattern of unexploded ordnance surfacing in Borno State, a grim legacy of more than a decade of insurgency and military operations across the North‑East. The conflict, which has claimed tens of thousands of lives and displaced millions, has left behind a scattered arsenal of weapons, ammunition and explosives that continue to pose a deadly threat to civilians long after the fighting has moved on. In November 2024, the Borno State Police Command recovered eight unexploded ordnances, including a hand grenade, from the Dala and Gwange areas of Maiduguri. In January 2026, troops of Operation Hadin Kai recovered a large cache of high‑calibre ammunition concealed inside a drainage channel in the Bulumkutu area. The Moduganari discovery is a stark reminder that the war is not yet over for the people of Maiduguri, who continue to live with the constant fear that the ground beneath them may still hold the ghosts of past battles.
The police have urged residents to remain vigilant and to report any suspicious objects or activities to security agencies without delay. They have also warned against the dangers of attempting to handle or move suspected explosives, stressing that even a seemingly harmless object can cause catastrophic harm. The recovery of the hand grenade in Moduganari is a testament to the effectiveness of community vigilance and the importance of cooperation between the public and security agencies. But it is also a sobering reminder that the scars of war run deep, and that the work of clearing the remnants of conflict is far from complete.
For the people of Maiduguri, the discovery of the hand grenade on a drainage slab is more than just a news item. It is a chilling reminder that the danger they thought they had left behind can resurface at any moment, in the most ordinary of places. As the police continue their investigation, the community is left to wonder: how many more unexploded devices are still out there, waiting to be found? And what would have happened if that resident had not looked down at the right moment, or had made the fatal mistake of trying to move it? The answer, for now, is a sigh of relief – and a renewed commitment to staying vigilant.
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