The Nation Newspaper

Tag: bomb blast

  • Presidency faults bomb blast claim in Borno

    The presidency yesterday faulted the claim of bomb blast in Borno State by a chieftain of the Coalition for Nigeria Movement (CNM).

    A statement by the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, said the lie was a futile effort to undermine the successes recorded by the President Muhammadu Buhari government in the area of security.

    He said: “On August 21, Akin Osuntokun, a chieftain of the stillborn Coalition for Nigeria Movement (CNM), appeared on Politics Today programme of Channels Television and made a false claim that a bomb blast occurred earlier in the day, killing about 88 people in Maiduguri, Borno State.

    “Osuntokun, a newspaper columnist and public affairs commentator, has never hidden his antipathy towards the Buhari administration, but to go on national television and tell lies of the most heinous kind betrays a mind taken completely over by ill wishes against his country.

    “Sallah Day had passed quietly and peacefully, without even a firecracker going off, let alone bomb blast.

    “That was contrary to what used to happen before the advent of the Buhari administration, when such festivals were turned to orgy of killings in parts of the country by insurgents.

    “Apparently, enemies of peace and progress had expected a return to the infamous past, thus Osuntokun appeared on television with his bag of lies.

    “When those on the programme remonstrated with him that they were not aware of any bomb blast on that day, he stood his ground, all in a futile bid to puncture the successes recorded by the government in the area of security.”

    Adesina said till the Eid-el-Kabir holidays ended, no bomb blast was recorded in any part of the country, “to the shame and discomfiture of the naysayers.”

    He went on: “One wonders, if there were bomb blasts and more than 80 people truly died, what would be the gain of anybody, except those who have become blinded by malediction and morbid wishes? Is carnage something now to glory about? Is the struggle for power now so ghoulish that some people have lost their humanity over it?

    “Osuntokun and his ilk should realise that this is the only country we have, and we can’t swallow poison and expect it to kill the next person. What we sow is what we reap.”

    Adesina noted that the tripod goals of securing the country, fighting corruption and reviving the economy were central to the Buhari administration.

     

  • Suicide bomber kills self in failed suicide attempt in Borno market

    The Borno Police Command on Sunday said tragedy was averted when a suicide bomber heading to the market mistakenly detonated an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) killing himself alone.

    The Commissioner of Police, Mr Damian Chukwu, who confirmed the incident in a statement released in Maiduguri, said the incident occurred on Saturday, at about 7:20 p.m. at the Monday Market general area.

    He said that the bomber was heading to the market where he saw massive crowd to detonate the IED strapped on his body.

    “The male suicide bomber sighted massive presence of police and other security deployments at Oando Filling station near Post Office and hurriedly detonated the explosives, killing himself alone.

    “More police personnel have been deployed to most parts of the capital and other flash points in the state.

    “This is to ensure security of lives and property, especially in the remaining days of the Ramadan fast and as Eid el-Fitr approaches,” he said.

    He added that the police Explosive Ordinance Device team were quickly deployed to sanitise the area and render it safe. (NAN)

  • How Sunday Oliseh escaped bomb blast by whiskers

    How Sunday Oliseh escaped bomb blast by whiskers

    Former Coach of the Nigeria national team Sunday Oliseh escaped the explosion that appeared to target the Borrussia Dortmund team’s bus on Tuesday ahead of their Champions League match against Monaco by a whisker.

    Oliseh was  closed to the Signal Iduna Park to watch the game  one of the Technical Study Group the UEFA Champions League before the three bombs exploded.

    in his twitter handle where he gave the narration, Oliseh said he was 200 metres away from the scene of the blast.

    “Thank God! I Was just 200 meters from the Dortmund stadium when the bombs struck Dortmund team Bus! Really Scary day but grateful to be safe!”, he posted on his official Twitter handle.

    Meanwhile Borrussi Dortmund has confirmed that Marc Bartra’s wrist surgery “went well” after the defender was injured in the explosion.

    Bartra was the only person hurt in the incident, which happened as the coach left the team hotel ahead of Tuesday’s quarter-final first leg.

    Police were unable to specify what type of explosives were used, but they described the devices as “serious”, suggesting they had been hidden under a hedge next to a car park.

    The match was subsequently postponed and re-arranged for today(Wednesday) by 5;30pm, with Dortmund already holding a training session ahead of the game.

  • Death toll from St. Petersburg metro blast rises to 14 – Ria

    The death toll from the bomb blast in St. Petersburg has risen to 14, Russian agency Ria Novosti quoted the country’s health minister Veronika Skvortsova as saying on Tuesday.

    The blast which happened on a metro train has also injured almost 50 people.

    The death toll had stood at 11 people on Monday.

    In a related development, Russia Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that the deadly bomb shows the need for joint efforts against global terrorism.

    “(This tragedy in St Petersburg) once again shows the importance of stepping up joint efforts to combat this evil,” Lavrov said at a meeting with his Kyrgyz counterpart Erlan Abdyldayev.

    The attack which has now killed 14 people is now thought to have been carried out by a man born in Kyrgyzstan.

    NAN reports that the St Petersburg television showed footage of the corpse of a bearded man they said was the perpetrator.

    The man resembled footage of a man captured on closed circuit television who Russian media said was a suspect.

    Officials said they were treating the blast as an act of terrorism, but there was no official confirmation of any link to Islamist radicals.

    The National Anti-Terrorist Committee said an explosive device had been found at another station, hidden in a fire extinguisher, but had been defused.

    Authorities closed all St. Petersburg metro stations.

    The Moscow metro said it was taking unspecified additional security measures in case of an attack there.

    The blast raised security fears beyond Russian frontiers.

    France, which has itself suffered a series of attacks, announced additional security measures in Paris.

  • Bomb blast rocks police MTD in Yola

    Bomb blast rocks police MTD in Yola

    Adamawa state government, Thursday confirmed a suspected bomb blast at the premises of Adamawa Motor Traffic Department of the Nigeria Police.

    According to NAN reports, Mr. Harun Furo, Permanent Secretary, Special Duty and Executive Chairman of Adamawa Emergency Management Agency, Yola, confirmed the incident.

    Furo said that the detail of damage caused by the blast was yet to be ascertained.

    Eye witnesses said some part of Jimeta Central Primary School was also hit by the blast.

    Details later…

     

  • Scores killed in Yola mosque explosion

    Bomb blast suspected to be from a suicide bomber, occurred Friday afternoon at a mosque in Yola.

    NAN report that the blast occurred shortly after the Imam of the mosque concluded reading of the sermon for the Juma’at prayer.

    “It was a young boy who attempted to get into the mosque when the explosive went off.

    “It’s a new Friday mosque; this is the first Friday prayer to be offered in the mosque.

    “Over 100 people have so far been evacuated to hospital but I can’t say how many among them are dead,” an eye witness, who simply identified himself as Umaru, said.

    The Police spokesman in the state, DSP Othman Abubakar and the Executive Secretary, Adamawa State Emergency Management Agency (ADSEMA), Alhaji Haruna Furo, confirmed the incident and said rescue effort was still going on.

    They said that the number of casualty was yet to be ascertained.

    “We are now evacuating those affected to Yola Specialist Hospital and Federal Medical Centre,” Furo said.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the blast was the third in Yola within the past six months.

    The first incident was near Yola central market followed by the one at Malkohi IDPs camp.

  • Photos: Buhari’s delegation to Abuja bomb blasts scene, hospital

    Photos: Buhari’s delegation to Abuja bomb blasts scene, hospital

  • Eight dead, 14 injured in Adamawa bomb blast

    Eight dead, 14 injured in Adamawa bomb blast

    An explosion rocked the internally displaced persons (IDPs) camp at Malkohi, Yola, Adamawa State yesterday, leaving no fewer than eight people dead.

    Thirteen other people were also injured in the blast, according to the Adamawa State Government.

    The Commissioner for Information, Mallam Ahmad Sajoh, who confirmed the incident to newsmen after a visit to the Federal Medical Centre, Yola, where the injured persons were receiving treatment, said four officials of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) were among the injured persons.

    He also said another blast was reported in Madagali, but the casualty figure was still unknown.

    “I just got the report of another blast in Madagali, but as I speak to you, I am still trying to get the actual picture of the situation. I got the report from officials of the Adamawa State Emergency Management Agency, ” he said, adding that the state government would foot the bill of all those injured in the Malkohi incident.

    Security operatives comprising the Army, Air Force, Civil Defence Corps and police, have swooped on the camp to commence fresh screening of all the IDPs

    All the IDPs where gathered in one section of the camp as policemen, soldiers and other officials of the camp embarked on the screening.

    The state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Gabriel Adaji, said security had been beefed up at the camp to forestall a reoccurrence.

    Adaji said it was possible that the persons that came with the explosive that rocked the camp joined the IDPs that were brought to the camp from Madagali on Thursday night.

    He said: “We suspect one of those IDPs that came newly. They possibly beat the security checks to cause this tragedy.

    “It is unfortunate. We are now trying our best to see that such incident does not happen again.”

    The NEMA Camp Coordinator in Adamawa State, Mr. Saad Bello, confirmed that a total of 498 IDPs from Madagali and 17 from Sambisa Forest were brought to the camp on Thursday night, and it was suspected that one of them hid a bomb in his cloths and detonated it on arrival.

    Reacting to the development, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar said only persons with hearts of evil could have perpetrated the act.

    In a press statement released by his Media Office in Abuja, the former Vice President said it was pathetic for “agents of evil” to target the thousands of already traumatised and vulnerable people mainly from Borno and Yobe states, who were seeking refuge in the camp.

    “Many people I know were working as volunteers in the camp, including staff and students of AUN, who are being nurtured and mentored in the best tradition of service to humanity by giving off their time, energy and at times resources to their fellow human beings,” the Turaki Adamawa said.

    “Today’s attack is an attempt to break the spirits of the people who came to seek refuge. The perpetrators will know no peace.

    “We refuse to be broken. We will win the war against terrorism. We shall overcome!”

  • ‘VIP’s not VP’s house targeted by Boko Haram’

    ‘VIP’s not VP’s house targeted by Boko Haram’

    The Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Laolu Akande, on Thursday night denied report that the Federal Government has uncovered plans by Boko Haram to bomb the Vice President Yemi Osinbajo’s house.

    He said in a statement that there was typographical error in the talking point circulated to journalists at the end of the National Economic Council (NEC) meeting.

    According to him, the aspect of ‘house of the vice president’ in the talking point should have read ‘houses of VIPs’.

    The statement reads: “A press briefing note circulated today by the Secretariat of the
    National Economic Council, NEC, contains a typo on the very last line of the last paragraph.

    “That paragraph should read ‘The Vice President also disclosed that security reports has it that scavengers are now being prepared by insurgents to dump refuse laden with bombs in the houses of VIPs.’

    “The last line erroneously says ‘in the house of the Vice President.’ Please take note of the correction.

    “The 59th NEC meeting was presided over by the Vice President, Prof.Yemi Osinbajo, earlier Thursday,” It stated.

  • Multiple bomb blasts in Gombe, scores killed

    Multiple bomb blasts have been reported in Gombe on Wednesday evening.
    State Police Public Relations Officer, Fwaje Atajiri confirmed the blast at Dadin Kowa motor park around 7: 40pm.
    The area have been cordoned off by security officials while victims are being conveyed to the hospital.
    Casualties not yet confirmed but our Correspondent counted eleven corpses at the Specialist Hospital.