[New on The Trent] Police Avert Another Bomb Blast, Recovers Car Loaded With Explosives In Kano (PHOTO)
A car loaded with Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) which the police intercepted in Kano...monday
The police Monday said they had averted what could have been another devastating bomb blast in the ancient city of Kano.
A statement signed by police spokesperson, Mr. Frank Mba, a Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP), said operatives from the force, acting on intelligence reports, tracked and recovered an ash colour Mitsubishi station wagon car, with registration number Kano AE 756 GSW, loaded with assorted gas cylinders, one container of fuel and other electrical components of improvised explosive devices (IEDs).
“The vehicle was recovered at Tafawa Balewa Street, Nasarawa area of Kano State, and has since been rendered safe by police bomb disposal experts,” Mba said.
The statement added that security agencies in the state had commenced investigation into both the aborted blast as well as the Sunday night bomb incident in which five people were reported dead and several others injured.
A suspected suicide bomber had detonated an IED on Sunday night at Middle Road, Off Gold Coast Street in Sabon Gari, Kano.
The blast led to the death of five persons, including the suspected suicide bomber. Seven persons were injured; four of them have already been treated and discharged, while six vehicles were also damaged.
While commiserating with the families and friends of the victims of the Sunday night incident, the Inspector General of Police (IG), Mohammed Abubakar, called for the cooperation of all in the fight against terrorism.
He promised that the law enforcement agencies would continue to do their utmost best to win the ongoing war against terrorism.
Also speaking on the development, the Kano State Commissioner of Police, Aderenle Shinaba, said investigations had commenced on the bomb blast of last Sunday.
Shinaba, who told journalists that the police had been combing the scene of the blast, added that it was too early to say who was behind the incident.
But some observers were quick to link the blast with the local government election which held in Kano on Saturday, in which the All Progressives Congress (APC), won all the 44 chairmanship seats.
The last local council elections were held seven years ago and the announcement of the results triggered widespread violence. Security had been tightened in the city in the run-up to the latest poll.
One of the injured victims, Mr. Matthew Ugoh, who spoke on how the explosion happened, said: “I just parked my car by the roadside trying to buy lemon from a hawker when I heard a loud blast and found myself here on the hospital bed.
“There was uncontrollable blood gushing from my head because of the injuries I sustained from the shattered glass of my car.”
He added: “I thank God for being alive and I will survive it by the grace of God. We are seven persons admitted here at Nassarawa Hospital and some have been discharged.
Yemi Akinsuyi , Zacheaus Somorin in Berlin and Ibrahim Shuaibu with agency reports
