Aliyu denies bomb-making factory in Niger

IT was still reign of violence as two bombs simultaneously exploded on Tuesday night on Baga road at 8.20 p.m. and Kaleri ward at 9.25 p.m. in Maiduguri, Borno State with no casualty recorded. And in Lagos, it was panic and apprehension yesterday as an object suspected to be bomb was discovered in Ikeja area of the city.

Also yesterday, Governor Babangida Aliyu dismissed the claim that there is a bomb manufacturing outfit in Niger State.

The developments came as the Chief Medical Director of the National Hospital, Bello Bala Shehu said the hospital is monitoring the victims of the bomb blast at the United Nations Building in Abuja that were flown abroad for treatment, adding that all the victims are still alive and are receiving adequate treatment.

Meanwhile, Governor Theodore Orji has canvassed establishment of a police anti-bomb squad unit and  another unit for the training of personnel in Explosive Ordinance Disposal (EOD)  in Abia State.

The Field Commander of the Joint Task Force (JTF), Col. Victor Ebhaleme confirmed the explosions in Maiduguri which came a month after the August 4 bomb blast in Bulunkutu that killed two people, including a policeman, and injured three other personnel of the task force.

Col. Ebhaleme said the blasts were from separate Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), adding that on reaching the scenes of the explosions by the JTF personnel, it was realised that there was no casualty.

The University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital (UMTH) authorities yesterday told The Guardian that their Accident and Emergency Unit did not receive any patient from the two blasts last night, while the hospital morgue has not received bodies from JTF since Tuesday.

There was panic and apprehension yesterday in Ikeja Local Council secretariat, Lagos as an object suspected to be a bomb was discovered. News of the discovery spread like wild fire as the Police Anti-Bomb Squad combed the entire compound and demobilised the object.

The police have urged Lagos residents and public places to be more vigilant and report any strange object to them.

Spokesman of the Nigeria Police Anti-Bomb Command, Mr. Gbolahan Moronfolu told The Guardian that his command successfully demobilised the object which he called “Improvised Explosive Device.”

“We received a telephone call of a bomb scare. Our EOD team went to the scene immediately. We got there and discovered that an object suspected to be an improvised explosive device (IED) was discovered.

“The object was placed on top of an air conditioner. When our experts got there, the object was demobilised. It was taken to our operational headquarters for analysis and investigation. Investigation is ongoing. There is no damage done on the compound because our men successfully demobilised the object. The advice to the local council is to tighten up security and should create an awareness forum. They should also fortify security around the premises,” he said.

Lagos State Police Command spokesman, Mr. Samuel Jinadu told newsmen that adequate security was in place to check such in the city.

Governor Aliyu who spoke after the inauguration of the constitution review panel of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) yesterday at the party secretariat in Abuja, disclosed that governors of northern Nigeria extraction had begun consultations on the way out of the insecurity created by the Boko Haram sect.

“Believe me, we are doing so much.  It was part of the committee that was set up by the president.  Yesterday, we had the National Council of State meeting and we discussed on the security of the whole nation.

As northern governors, yesterday, we agreed we are going to discuss the issues further and take appropriate measures in areas where we thought it will keep reoccurring,’’ the Niger State governor stated.

The National Hospital said out of the many blasts victims receiving treatment at the hospital, only five are remaining and are in a very stable condition and various stages of recuperation.

Speaking when the Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, Hajia Zainab Maina visited the victims yesterday in Abuja, the chief medical director said some of the remaining victims need counseling to enable them adjust to their new lives.

Shehu commended Nigerians for coming out willingly to donate blood to save the lives of the victims. He also thanked the media for keeping Nigerians informed about the incident.

The minister, after giving words of admonition to the victims, called on Nigerians to give peace a chance and support government in the effort to transform and develop the country.

She said: “Peace is very critical to the development of the country, without peace, there can be no development. Nigeria has been a peaceful country. We need to be our brother’s keeper. Let us work together to develop our country and support government’s effort to transform this country”. The minister appealed to parents to bring up their children in the right way and inculcate in them the culture of love, peace and good neighbourliness.

Governor Orji who made the call  for police anti-bomb unit through his deputy Chief Emeka Ananaba when the Commissioner in charge of Police Anti-Bomb Squad, from the Force Headquarters Abuja Mr. Ambrose Aisabor and his team paid him a courtesy visit at the Government House  Umuahia, said doing so has become expedient in view of the security situations across the country.

Ananaba told the police commissioner that the state government will fund the unit if established in the state.  He described the visit as a welcome development even as he commended the security agents for putting states on alert on the eventuality of any bombing that might occur.

The visiting police commissioner had told Ananaba that they were mandated by the Inspector General of Police to evaluate the current security challenges across the country and advise accordingly, adding that government at all levels and the international community is not happy with this new wave of security challenges.

Aisabor who appealed to all to devise proactive measures to help the police in addressing the problem of bombing, thanked the state government for its security-friendly posture demonstrated through the provision of vehicles, accommodation and logistics and requested government to assist the command establish a branch of the EOD unit in the state.

-Guardian

Posted by admin on Sep 7 2011. Filed under Borno, Headlines, Lagos, State News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry