Blasts in Bauchi, Zaria, Maiduguri

31 May 2011

Abuja, Bauchi, Zaria, Maiduguri — A day after the inauguration of President Goodluck Jonathan and 26 state governors across the country on Sunday, four powerful blasts were recorded in four different towns across the country on Sunday evening and yesterday.

At least 15 people were confirmed to have died while many others sustained injuries in the blasts. The blasts occurred at the Bauchi State capital, Bauchi; at Zaria in Kaduna State, at Maiduguri in Borno State and Zuba, near Abuja.

Chief of Army Staff Lieutenant General Azobike O. Ihejirika who spoke at the scene of the worst incident at Shadawanka Barracks in Bauchi yesterday said 13 people died while 40 others when injured when three devices exploded at the 33 Artillery Brigade’s Mammy Market of the Nigerian Army in Bauchi on Sunday night.

He said, “I can confirm to you that 14 persons died, 40 injured, some were treated and discharged. There is no soldier among the people that lost their lives. There are some policemen, relatives of the soldiers and other civilians.”

He said the Barracks is a place where soldiers and civilians interact and reiterated the commitment of the Nigerian Army to tackle all terrorist threats in the country. The Army Chief also said, “We have come out with new security measures. We have established an outfit called the Dog Section of the military police. These are all aimed to enhance our capacity to deal with terrorist acts in the country. So far we have established one in Abuja in addition to the one we have because of the last incident and we are going to establish one in all Army barracks, and we are also enhancing our engineers in order to detect terrorism acts.”

Addressing military men in Bauchi, Ihejirika said what had happened is a challenge to all of them to fight terrorism in the country, and he advised them to be more vigilant. He expressed his sympathy to the soldiers, their wives and relatives over the losses they incurred in the incident.

General Officer Commanding the 3 Armoured Division, Jos Major General Sunday Idoko described the incident as unfortunate, adding that security should be everybody’s concern. He said army barracks under his command don’t have perimeter fences.

Earlier in his account of the incident after he conducted newsmen round the scene of the incident last Sunday night before the arrival of the Army Chief, Brigade Commander of the 33 artillery brigade Brigadier General Agbo Robinson said “three bomb blasts occurred around eight o’clock in the evening when officers and men of the brigade and other civilians were relaxing”.

Robinson said the Army has now sealed the market to enable soldiers to investigate the remote cause of the incident, and reiterated the commitment of his officers to fish out the culprits.

Chairman, operations of the Bauchi State Emergency Management Agency Alhaji Muhammadu Inuwa Bello said “from what I confirmed from our officers at the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Teaching Hospital Bauchi presently there are 14 dead bodies in the mortuary, and out of the 29 injured people admitted in the hospital eight were treated and discharged while 21 people are currently in the hospital.”

A witness told daily trust that the devices exploded simultaneously around 8 o’clock in the evening. He said, “Yesterday was Sunday, many people went to the mammy market to ease and relax. we were about to start eating when we heard a loud bang about three times, one after the other. Several people were crying in pains because they sustained injuries. No one can tell you the number of people that were affected because it was in the night and very soon the place was cordoned off by the military. They took the injured people to the hospital.”

At Zuba, near Abuja, a bomb detonated by unknown persons in a popular drinking joint at Zuba International Market on Sunday night killed one person and injured 10 others, including under-aged children.

A worker at a joint in the market said the place was crowded with people because of Democracy Day, when they heard a deafening explosion that threw people to the ground.

He said lack of medical facilities in the market worsened the situation of victims, which led to the death of one person, who lost a leg. Another witness, Musa Ahmed, who claimed the bomb exploded at 9 pm, said he was about to take a drink when he heard a loud bang and saw a ball of fire as well as smoke. “We got up and ran for our lives, while some people were on the ground covered with chairs,” he said.

A police officer said five of the victims were rushed to Diamond Crest and Living Rock Hospitals in the town, while another set of five are at Victory Foundation Hospital, Zuba.

FCT Police Public Relations Officer SP Moshood Jimoh said one person was killed while eight others were injured. He said those who were injured have been hospitalized. He said the explosive device was deployed at the bar by some people and no one has claimed responsibility. He added, “But we have clues that will lead us to the arrest of the people behind the blast.”

The National Emergency Agency (NEMA) confirmed that two people died while 11 were hospitalized following the blast at Zuba.

And in Zaria, Kaduna State, an explosive device suspected to be a locally-made bomb exploded in the early hours of yesterday, injuring two teenagers at the Iyan Juma area of Zaria city.

The bomb that was planted at Tudun Masallaci in the Iyan Juma ward inside the ancient city of Zaria exploded around 6am when two teenagers unknowingly stepped on the explosives. Witnesses said the teenagers were sent on an errand by their parents when one of them stepped on the explosive and that led to the explosion.

The witness, Malam Aliyu Nasir Suleiman, said, “I reside around this area (Tudun Masallaci). I was sitting at my parlour after coming back from the mosque. At around 6 am I heard a very loud sound. We are not used to hearing that kind of sound, therefore confusion ensued in the area. We ran out from our houses to see what was going on. When we reached the area we saw the two teenagers writhing in a pool of their own blood. We rushed them to Taimako Clinic for treatment and they are right now in the clinic receiving treatment.”

Another resident of the area said, “What we suspect is that the owners of the bomb were keeping it in their homes but when they realised that it may explode in their houses they came to plant it beside a refuse dump, perhaps believing that if it exploded in that place it will not affect anybody. It is unfortunate those children crossed the place and it exploded. We thank Allah that no one lost his life but we pray that such incident would never happen again.”

He also said, “I think the genesis of the tension in Zaria right now may not be unconnected with the declaration and swearing-in of Yakowa as governor. Apart from that we have suffered enough humiliation from the soldiers and mobile policemen drafted to restore order during the post-election violence. That is why some people have vowed to take revenge but to me that would not do good to anyone. I think we should leave everything to Allah. He has seen all those that have cheated us and He will appropriately deal with them.”

Another explosion also occurred at the PZ area of the city on Sunday evening. Sunday’s explosion was said to have targeted the beer parlours that dot the area, and eight people were injured. When contacted, the Police Area Commander in charge of Zaria headquarters, ACP Sani Maigana directed our reporter to either talk to the State Commissioner of Police or the Public Relations Officer of the force. DSP Aminu Lawal, the PPRO, confirmed the two incidents, saying that their bomb detectors were on their way to the areas.

Meanwhile, a bomb planted by the roadside which exploded along Baga Road in Maiduguri metropolis yesterday hit a patrol vehicle that was conveying members of the Joint Task Force (JTF) of the military and the police, even though none of the security operatives was injured.

Witnesses who heard a loud bang and saw a thick smoke billowing said the incident took place around 8am when the security operatives, popularly called Operation Flush were on routine surveillance along the busy Baga Road which also leads to the Maimalari Barracks.

Spokesman of the 21 Armoured Brigade, Lieutenant Abdullahi Abubakar who confirmed the bomb explosion said it only affected the vehicle that was conveying the JTF operatives.”The explosion might have been controlled electronically. I say this because other vehicles have passed the highway this morning but the bomb did not detonate until our men approached,” Abdullahi said.

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