Another Explosion Averted At EMAB Plaza, Abuja…As Police Recover 13 Bombs At Kano Praying Ground

But for vigilance and timely response of security agents, another improvised explosive device (IED) would have exploded at EMEB Plaza shortly after the one that killed 21 persons and send many others to hospitals for treatment on Wednesday.
Coordinator of the National Information Centre (NIC) Mr. Mike Omeri said this in Abuja Friday afternoon when he led other members of the Centre in a media briefing on government’s efforts to curb insurgency in the country.
He explained “that their prompt action on that afternoon led to the arrest of one of the attackers and the killing of another that was almost using his gadgets to detonate the second and possibly the third deadly device.”
Omeri however, disputed popular insinuations that the CCTV cameras installed around some areas in the Federal Capital Territory are not functioning as a syndicate has stolen most of the batteries installed in them. He narrated that Minister of the FCT, Senator Bala Mohammed told him that the cameras were functioning and that more are to be installed. Omeri however, advised citizens to also install the cameras in their premises to complement that of government.
While refusing to give details, the Director General of the National Orientation Agency gave the assurance that efforts by the military especially in the North East to subdue the Boko Haram terrorists were progressing steadily and that the war was being won by government troops.
“While we do not want to go into details of operations currently taking place, it is advised that the practice in which some persons just bandied figures of casualties on either the side of the military or insurgents should be discouraged and checked. The truth remains that the military is winning the war and the nation shall surely triumph in this fight”, he declared.
He also urged Nigerians especially parents and school pupils to ignore messages on the social media that some schools were being targeted for attack and assured that security agencies were working assiduously to ensure that schools are safe and academic activities remain unhindered.
While responding to worries that terrorism suspects were being held without trial, Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Frank Mba, who was promoted to the rank of an Assistant Commissioner of Police on Thursday appealed to the public for patience.
Mba noted that investigations on terrorism cases are tenuous and strenuous but pledged that once investigations were concluded, every suspect would arraigned in court for trial.
Meanwhile, a major bloodbath was today averted in Kano as policemen intercepted 13 gas cylinders of Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) primed to explode on worshipers at a Jumat Praying Ground in the state capital. The Improvised Explosive Devices were loaded in a rickety ox- blood starlet Toyota car with registration number AV 234 NSR , within the surrounding of the Praying Ground at Sauna General Area, Dakata in Kano State, a few minutes ahead of the praying time which was to commence at 2.00pm. Briefing newsmen on the development at the Bompai headquarters of the Command, Kano State Commissioner of Police, Alhaji  Adenrele Shinaba, said that the IEDs were already primed and were tickling to the hour of explosion, when they were intercepted by the police, adding that if they had exploded on the innocent worshippers, the Abuja tragedy, two days back, would have been a child’s play. The Commissioner, who also displayed a remote control key, billed to trigger off  the explosion, also announced the recovery of some live bullets in the ill fated vehicle. Talking about the recovery of the IEDs, he said the police received information from the members of the public that a vehicle was abandoned in their vicinity. He added that following the tip off from the community, the police immediately dispatched detectives of its Explosive Ordinance Unit to the spot adding that upon arrival, the vehicle was screened and found to be loaded with explosive devices. He explained that the police immediately asked residents of the area to leave the vicinity of the parked car, following which they detonated the first gas cylinder, adding that the impact of the single detonation shook several houses simultaneously and made a very load, huge explosive sound. Following this development, the Explosive Ordinance Unit advised that the rest of the explosive devices should not be denoted at the point, but should be removed to somewhere else to ensure they were safely detonated. He thanked Kano residents  for the timely information while restating that if the terrorists had succeeded, “the agony would have been unimaginable by now"