Bombs retrieved from Boko Haram exploded accidentally yesterday at the Police Anti-bomb Squad Office in Jimeta, Yola, the Adamawa State capital.
Four people died while scores of policemen were injured. School children were cut by shattered glass.
Crying kids, screaming parents and panick vendors ran for their lives when an officer warned of the possibility of a secondary explosion in Yola’s Jimeta neighborhood. The police station is in a commercial area surrounded by a market, the main prison, a post office, a TV station and two primary schools
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Fire engines and ambulances with sirens blaring arrived at the scene. The office of the Police Anti-Bomb Squad was razed along with nearby buildings in the police complex.
The powerful blast shattered windows for blocks.
The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) confirmed that four persons died. According to a statement by Senior Information Officer Sani Datti, the explosion occurred at about noon and the injured persons taken to the Federal Medical Centre, Yola.
According to the statement, nearby Jimeta Primary School, Post Office, old NITEL building and some neighbouring houses were affected.
“The bombs (that exploded) are among those retrieved from Boko Haram,” Deputy Superintendent Othman Abubakar, told The Associated Press. He denied that the bombs were planted.
Rescue officials recovered four bodies and ferried at least 20 wounded children and people to the hospital, according to PR Nigeria, an agency that disseminates government statements.
“I heard a deafening bang,” said Ibrahim Abubakar, a trader whose shop is outside the headquarters of the Jimeta Divisional Police Station. “I saw smoke around the station and over 10 bodies,” he said.
Adamawa State Police chief Mohammed Gazali said the recovered bomb exploded from the store used by the Police Command to warehouse exhibits.
He said most of those affected by the blast were policemen.
“Policemen were mostly affected and we don’t know the actual casualties for now as the place is not yet safe for us to go in,” Gazali said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the explosion also affected the walls of Majalisa Primary School where some pupils were injured.
Commissioner for Information Malam Ahmad Sajoh said the pupils sustained minor injuries and had been treated and discharged from hospital.
NAN reports that the station where the blast occurred contained offices of the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB), Motor Traffic Department (MTD) and the police tailoring section.
The incident has led to hurried closure of markets and schools in the area as residents scamper home for safety
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