No blast anywhere in Abuja – Police

Culled from Vanguard

FCT Police Commissioner, Aderenle Shinaba Monday disclosed that there was no bomb blast anywhere in the federal capital noting however that the Police Explosion Ordinance Device Squad of the command only disarmed a 40 ton object made up of sand and tiles discovered in the premises of NIPOST, in the Area 10 outline of Garki district.

Explaining what actually happened following rumours earlier in the day that a bomb blast occurred at the popular Area 10 shopping complex, CP Shinaba said, “The true position is that no bomb blast occurred anywhere in Abuja today.

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At about 10 am, we got information that something was packaged in a carton, which looked like a bomb and planted at the entrance of NIPOST in Area 10”.

“As a result of the security situation in the country currently, we didn’t want to take any chances. So I moved my officers (EOD and Anti-terrorist squads) to the scene.

And to avoid what happened in Kaduna recently when a Policeman in attempting to detonate a bomb lost his life, I directed the explosive ordinance department to detonate the object technically from a distance”.

“We detonated it and after that, discovered it was a package containing sand and tiles, that it had nothing to do with IEDS’ or explosives.

So there is no need for anxiety or panic. It was the detonation of the object that people were interpreting to be a bomb blast”.

While assuring Nigerians leaving in the FCT of their safety at all times, the CP said the FCT command was on top of security situation in the capital noting however that the citizens should not relent in giving out information on suspicious objects and movements with the FCT.