Three bombers yesterday drove an explosives-laden vehicle into the car park of the Louis Edet building of the Nigerian police headquarters in Abuja and set it off at about 11: 00 am local time.
The three, reportedly men, died in the explosion. Police authorities have not released any information regarding any other casualties that may have occurred as a result of the incident.
Briefing the press about the incident, the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Hafiz Ringim, said that it was apparently a suicide bombing involving a lot of militants. He said some of the attackers were apprehended, and confirmed the three who died in the blast. Mr. Ringim said the bombers had carefully followed the convoy of a police DIG into the police headquarters and set off their explosives as soon as they arrived in the car park.
According to reports from SaharaReporters, the vibration occasioned by the blast shattered the windows of the police headquarters as far away as the offices of the IG on the 11th floor, as well as several buildings in the vicinity of the police headquarters.
All roads leading to the scene were condoned off by security agents. Firefighters on the scene put off the fires arising from the explosion while anti-bomb units examined debris from the scene.
No one has yet claimed responsibility for the attack, but only yesterday, members of the Boko Haram Islamist group threatened to escalate attacks across Nigeria over statements credited to the IG that their days were numbered.
The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) in a statement yesterday said, it was saddened by this grave development. “Though no group has claimed responsibility for this gruesome attack, it is nonetheless the handiwork of disgruntled elements who have one or two grudges against the police,” it stated.
“MURIC asserts that life is sacred and nobody except Allah has the right to take the life of another fellow homo sapien. It is clear that this attack was aimed at the heart of the police force thereby implying a desire for vengeance or a demonstration of dissatisfaction with certain operations of the Nigerian police. We strongly condemn this violence outburst in its entirety. It is high time Nigerians realized that violence cannot solve the nation’s problems. We call upon Nigerians to embrace dialogue as the ultimate panacea for resoving differences. Dialogue builds. Violence destroys.
“MURIC urges the security agencies to fish out the culprits of this barbaric act. We appeal to the Federal Government to immediately engage all groups and different shades of opinions in dialogue. We advise the youth to shun violent propensities.”
No comments:
Post a Comment