April 5, 2016: Suicide bombers detonate on public transport in Niger

DIFFA, NIGER – In the days before Covid (and hopefully afterwards!), public transport is a lifeline to many people across the world. Which makes it a perfect target for terrorist attacks

Think back for a moment to the days before the current pandemic when commuting was part of your daily routine. Did you drive your own car everywhere you needed to go? Or was public transit your preferred method of getting from A to B?

I know that I spent a lot of time on the O-Train in Ottawa, and often even more time on the platform waiting for late trains to show up. Regardless, it was a much easier way to get to and from downtown. And I didn’t ever have to worry about parking!

Luckily, I never had to worry about nefarious actors attacking my train or attempting to harm those choosing an environmentally friendly, if public, way of getting to work or school. The victims in today’s featured attack were not so lucky.

On this day in 2016

Three civilians were killed and several others injured when two Boko Haram suicide bombers detonated their equipment in a public transport vehicle on its way to a market in southeast Niger. The area was then sealed off by Niger’s defence and security forces for a day as they attempted to apprehend other suspects.

Unfortunately, this is but one of many Boko Haram attacks to take place in Niger which borders their home state of Nigeria. Less than a week earlier, six Nigerian soldiers were killed in the Diffa region by the same group.

Public transit is a daily reality for so much of the world – people should at least be able to get where they’re going in peace. Do you hear that terrorists? Piss off.

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