Police find time bomb inside Bayero varsity • Terrorists bomb Taraba CP’s convoy, kill 10

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Twenty-four hours after terrorists launched simultaneous attacks on two Christian worship centres at Bayero University, Kano, the police have discovered a time bomb within the university campus.

On Sunday, gunmen had attacked the chaplaincy of the institution’s old campus and left over 20 persons, including two professors, dead.

The PUNCH gathered that the time bomb was found on the first floor of the Sociology department of the new campus of BUK. A security official who saw the bomb said its effect would have been “devastating”.

Shortly after the discovery, the Police anti-bomb squad moved in, defused the bomb and took it away.

The Police Public Relations Officer of the Kano State Police Command, ASP Magaji Majiya, confirmed the incident to The PUNCH.

“The bomb was carefully concealed at the Sociology department of BUK. Luckily, it had not exploded when it was discovered. The effect would have been devastating if it had,” he said.

 The spokesman of BUK, Mustapha Zaharadeen, also confirmed the story. He said the discovery of the unexploded bomb had saved the university community and the entire state another calamity.

Meanwhile, the Acting Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Mohammed Abubakar, on Monday said he was not overwhelmed by the rising spate of bomb and gun attacks unleashed on parts of the North and Abuja by the Boko Haram sect.

However, Abubakar looked visibly worried as he spoke to journalists at the State House, Abuja. He made the comments after a closed-door meeting with Vice-President Namadi Sambo and the Minister of Police Affairs, Navy Capt. Caleb Olubolade (retd.).

His comments came as a suspected member of the sect bombed the convoy of the Taraba State Commissioner of Police, Mamman Sule, in Jalingo, with plastic military explosives, leaving 10 persons dead and over 20 injured.

The acting IG said the security situation in the country had improved since he took over from Mr. Hafiz Ringim in January.

He also said the police under his leadership had made significant strides in the security of lives and property in the country.

Asked to assess his performance in the wake of the spate of terrorist attacks, he said, “Yes, we are doing something, as you can see. You cannot compare the situation before we came on board and now. I am not overwhelmed. Not at all.”

Abubakar also denied reports that the Taraba CP was the target of Monday’s attack in Jalingo, noting that some arrests had been made in connection with the incident.

“My commissioner of police was not the target. It (the bomb) was placed on the road and it exploded; nothing has happened to the commissioner and we have made arrests,” he said.

Meanwhile, 10 persons reportedly died in the Jalingo attack, which occurred while the CP was being driven to the office.

The explosives hit one of the outriders in the CP’s convoy as well as his official car, the News Agency of Nigeria reports.

The police commissioner said he was on his way to the office when the bombers struck near the state Ministry of Finance, adjacent to the headquarters of the state police command.

Sule, who told newsmen that the police had only confirmed the death of three persons from the attack, said he escaped death by a whisker.

“The explosives hit the official car I was riding in and shattered the windscreen and front bumper but I escaped unhurt,” he stated.

He said efforts were on to apprehend the suspected culprits while bomb experts had been invited to join the team of investigators.

However, there appeared to be a conflict in the casualty figure as the Red Cross Information Coordinator in the state, Mr. Umar Waziri, told newsmen that 11 people died in the bomb attack.

“We can confirm that 11 people were killed. Ten people died on the spot, while one person died at the Federal Medical Centre in Jalingo,” Waziri told NAN.

He said that 20 others injured by the blast had been taken to medical centres in the city.

Security personnel on Sunday night evacuated Ado community, a suburb of Abuja, following the discovery of a cylinder believed to be an Improvised Explosive Device near a residential building around 9.30 pm.

The cylinder, which was concealed in a black polythene bag, was discovered by a resident who reported the matter to the police.

State Security Service operatives, soldiers and policemen cordoned off the area, located in Ado Karu Local Government Area of Nasarawa State. They, however, did not get near the suspicious package because it was dark.

It was gathered that the security personnel kept watch over the cylinder throughout the night to prevent civilian casualties.

A senior security officer, who participated in the operation, told The PUNCH on Monday that they had to take the risk of hitting the cylinder with a stick because they lacked sophisticated gadgets.

The officer said, “None of the security personnel that were deployed in the scene, including the military, SSS and the police, had the gadgets used for defusing bombs.

“So we had to stay there throughout the night, keeping watch over it. It was in the morning that we summoned courage and used a long stick to hit the cylinder. We had no gadget to identify whether it was a bomb or not; the situation was really laughable, but we had no choice than to take the risk; that is the condition under which we work.”

When contacted on the telephone, the Nasarawa State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Abayomi Akeremale, said the package was not a bomb, but an ordinary cylinder which had been claimed by the owner.

“It was not a bomb; it was an ordinary cylinder and the owner has collected it,” he said over the telephone.

Culled from The Punch.

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Simply Cheska...