Kaduna traders yesterday relived the explosion that rocked their market on Wednesday.<\/span> Automobile Spare Parts Association Vice President Edwin Nwagu told the governor: \u201cThe incident happened precisely at about 9:20am, a very sad event. We are honoured to receive you. We lost some lives and many are in the hospital.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe were told by some of our members who were around when the incident happened that some people came around on a motorcycle and called one of the spare parts dealers. They dropped what they were holding, which was later discovered to be a bomb. It exploded and killed some of our members.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The association\u2019s Kaduna Zone chairman, Mr. Sunday Mba, said: \u201cWhat I was told by my secretary is that people came on a bike and dropped a bag. The substance exploded and killed the boy, as well as the one in the shop instantly. It was a bomb, not gas cylinder explosion, as claimed. We don\u2019t deal in gas here.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The injured have been transferred to the Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Shika, Zaria for proper medical attention. The state government has promised to foot their medical bills.<\/span><\/p>\n The blast site has become a mecca of sorts, hosting crowds of visitors from across the state.<\/span> Yakowa told the traders that he has directed the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) to make preliminary recommendations on how to assist the victims, pending the conclusion of investigations by security agents.<\/span><\/p>\n The governor said: \u201cI just came to see you, those of you who live around here, and to personally see the scene of the explosion, go back and allow the law enforcement agents to continue to do their work. I know it is very painful, but please co-operate with them so that we can get to the root of this unfortunate incident.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cBy so doing, you will be helping us to take all the steps that are necessary to prevent a possible recurrence of this kind of incident in any part of the state. We need peace, we need stability so that people can go about their lawful businesses without too much worries.<\/span>
They told visiting Governor Patrick Yakowa that the explosion was a bomb \u2013 as against Police Commissioner Ballah Nasarawa\u2019s claim that it was\u201dan explosion from within and not sabotage from outside\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n
With Yakowa were Senator Mohammed Saleh and the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) governorship candidate in the April election, Haruna Saeed Kajuru.<\/span><\/p>\n
\u201cThank you for your understanding and bearing with us and for your cooperation with the security agencies. Continue to corporate with them; they are here to safeguard your lives and property.<\/span><\/p>\n