Blast rocks Abuja highbrow district
A “mysterious” blast yesterday tore through the Aminu Kano Crescent, Wuse II District of Abuja.The blast which occurred at barely a few minutes after midnight set two jeeps and two other cars ablaze but did not have any major impact on the buildings in the area.
The explosive device was planted under a tree at the front of Hanan Plaza just opposite Kryxtal Lounge, a night club, in the area. The plaza shares a fence with the headquar-ters of Etisalat mobile network in Abuja.
Manager of the Lounge, Alex Toor, dismissed insinuations that the explosive was planted in his club. He said although the club was in session at the time of the explosion, there was no indication that his club was the target.“I am not a bomb expert but from what happened here, I do not think it is a bomb blast”, he our source.
A resident of the area, Laide Oshinowo, said the loud bang which was heard at about past midnight shook his building even as his electronics immediately stopped working.
“The blast shook my room and my TV stopped working. It has not worked since then,” he said.
Confirming the incident, the FCT Commissioner of Police, Mr. Aderenle Shina-ba, said no one died in the incident.
He stated that: “What happened at this spot you are seeing is that a vehicle parked and some other ve-hicles parked and another vehicle was just moving on the highway and threw an object at the vehicles that were parked.
“The next we heard was a sound. It was not a very serious issue, no life was lost and nobody was injured,’’ he said.
Shinaba did not say the type of explosive used and added: “I am not a bomb expert.”
He, however, said that men of the ``Explosive Ordnance Department’’ of the police had commenced investigation into the matter.
The commissioner said the investigation would prove the type of explosive used and the motive of those behind the explosion, adding that no arrest had been made.
He assured residents of FCT that their security was guaranteed.
Although, field workers of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) were on ground, they declined speaking on record.
One of them, however, clarified that there was no casualty recorded and that security operatives had towed the affected vehicles away.
Only on Friday, the Zone 5 area of Wuse District was hurriedly deserted and offices and commercial complexes evacuated over fears that an Improvised Explosive Device had been planted around the area.
Barely an hour after the Islamic Jumaat prayers, the Zone 5 area of the district became chaotic as motorists and passersby hurriedly fled
