Daily Independent (Lagos)
Ben Duru, Snr Correspondent, Umuahia, Njoku Paschal, Yola Baba Negedu
22 April 2011
Kaduna — Just days after post election violence rocked Kaduna and neighbouring states another explosion was recorded in the state on Friday.
The explosion which took place in Rafin Gusa, Kawo in Igabi Local Government Area is suspected to be a bomb blast, which allegedly killed two while others sustained various degrees of injuries.
An eyewitness told Saturday Independent on phone that, the blast took place at around 7:00pm, shortly after residents returned home to beat the 8:00am to 4:00pm curfew imposed by the Kaduna state government following political violence in the state.
Kaduna State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), DSP Aminu Lawal, confirmed the explosion, saying the command has deployed its anti-bomb squad to the area to ascertain the level of damage.
Aminu noted that “Right now, we have deployed our detectives to the area; you know nobody can just go there. The place is not secure for now. But we are on top of the situation.”
The police spokesman refused to give the number of those that died or injured in the explosion, adding that it was too early to ascertain that.
At least two inmates of the Yola South Prison in Adamawa State sustained injuries from shots by armed guards following a jailbreak at the detention facility on Friday.
An unspecified number of inmates, however, managed to make it past the gate. Officials said some of them had been arrested as at the time of going to press.
This comes as residents of Kaduna State are not leaving anything to chance after the violence that erupted in some northern states over the election of President Goodluck Jonathan last Saturday. Many of the communities in the state now keep vigil to halt secret killings in their domains.
Security sources say trouble started at the Yola prison during the Friday prayer session when a scuffle broke out among the inmates, numbered in hundreds culminating into breaking of cell doors, with a sizeable number jumping over the prison parameter wall.
Our correspondent reports that the dispute was on account of congestion in the facility owing to the influx of inmates following arrests made in the wake of the post-election violence experienced in the North.
The prisoners were said to have broken into the prison workshop and armed themselves with dangerous weapons and stones to express their anger at the congestion, which they said was unbearable considering the harsh weather.
State controller of Prisons, Mr. Andrew Barka, confirmed to journalists at the prison yard that six robbery suspects took advantage of the situation to escape before they were overpowered and apprehended by the armed guards.
“We are on the top of the situation now as we are taking stock and checking the prison cells to ascertain the whole situation,” Barka assured.
In the absence of regular security forces, many of the communities in Kaduna have organised themselves into vigilante groups to watch over their areas, Saturday Independent learnt.
As rumours of attack and counter attacks persist in the state, the residents now sleep with their eyes open.
Youths and men in different parts of Kaduna State now sleep during the day and keep vigil in the night to ensure that enemies do not take their environments unaware.
The vigil has become habitual in Sabo, Barnawa Narayi, Ungwa Romi, Gonin Gora and Kabala, among other areas in spite of the curfew imposed on the state.
Many residents of the communities who spoke with Saturday Independent, said that they could not rely on assurances of the security operatives they claimed are not always around when attackers invade their homes.
A community leader in Sabo, Azumta Benjamin, said the move is aimed at making sure that “no strange personality infiltrates the ranks of the people and cause any harm, as one cannot actually distinguish who really is a friend or an enemy.”
He said that in as much as the people are not going to attack anybody, they want to be battle ready so that nobody will attack them or take them unaware.
Disturbed by what he termed selective attack on the Igbo, Leader of the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), Ralph Uwazuruike, has warned that if the political crisis in the northern states is not curtailed, his group will have no choice than to embark on reprisal attacks.
Speaking with Saturday Independent exclusively on telephone, the MASSOB leader condemned the wanton killing and destruction of property.
He said the killing of innocent citizens would no longer be tolerated.
Uwazuruike maintained that Ndigbo have always been the sacrificial lamb in the wake of any crisis, be it political or religious, warning states governments in those areas to move without fail to contain this one or be prepared to suffer the repercussions.
“I am worried about what is happening in some northern states of Nigeria. How can the Igbo be at the receiving end of any crisis whether it is political or religious? What have the citizens of Biafra done to deserve this kind of treatment from Nigerians?” He asked.
Uwazuruike said the recently conducted National Assembly and presidential elections across the country was commendable.
He, however, challenged the security agencies and the governors of the crisis-ridden states to call their people to order.
“Well, yes you know I am not bothered with what you people do in Nigeria, but I can say that the election especially the last one was okay. Governors in those places where there are crises must do something fast before it gets out of hand.
“They should not think that they have the monopoly of violence or that they are the only ones that know how to get angry. Ndigbo, since the end of the civil war, have been suffering and nobody is listening to them and they think that we cannot get angry. We have not resorted to destruction of lives and property of innocent citizens in our anger.
“This is a lesson they must learn from the people of Biafra. So they should call themselves to order before the crisis spreads because if it continues, we are going to show them that we can punish them for what they are doing to our people,” Uwazuruike said.
The MASSOB leader warned that should his group and Ndigbo decide to retaliate not even the governments in the area or security agencies will be able to curtail the situation saying, “this is why it is important to ensure peace now that it is still early.”
AllAfrica – All the Time
