24-hour curfew in Kaduna as blast kills 25

There was a bomb blast on Alkali Road, GRA, in north-western Kaduna State, a resident told TheCable on Wednesday afternoon.

In the first public confirmation of the blast by the police in the state, commissioner of police, Alhaji Umar Shehu, said 25 people died while 14 people were injured.

He said the victims were evacuated by officials of the Nigeria Red Cross Society and National Emergency Management Agency officials to the 44 Army Reference Hospital, Kaduna.

According to the resident, whose office is very close to the scene of the tragedy, the bomb went off “around 12:10 to 12:15pm” at the end of an annual Ramadan lecture delivered by hugely-followed 87-year-old Islamic cleric, Sheikh Dahiru Bauchi.

“Sheikh Bauchi was targeted earlier last month. There is a programme he holds annually at Murtala Square, here in Kaduna. It is an annual lecture that holds towards the end of Ramadan,” he told TheCable.

“Alkali Road leads straight to Murtala Square, which means Murtala Square is at the end of Alkali load. Normally, after the lecture, the Sheikh’s followers — thousands of them from all the north, Senegal, Cameroon and so on — move out in  a convoy. As they were moving, just before the exit of Alkali Road and very close to First Scan Clinic, a bomb went off. The spot is like three to four blocks before you exit Alkali Road to join the main highway.”

He said — and the police subsequently confirmed it — that the Sheikh was the target of the blast, but he escaped unhurt.

He also expressed surprise at the bombing, due to the heavy presence of security agents at the venue.

“There was a very heavy presence of security men: police, army, civil defence corps. All of them were there, yet this thing still happened.

“The place has been cordoned off. But some of my colleagues who went there shortly after it happened confirmed that 13 people — apart from those injured  had died.

“There must be heavy casualty because you can imagine what it is like for thousands of people to be moving at the same time, then a bomb goes off. The place is like eight blocks away from my office but we still felt the impact so strongly; it was so loud you would know its a bomb.

“There was pandemonium afterwards [pictured]. Offices started closing for the day and residents were locking their gates.”

Another resident who spoke briefly with TheCable said she had been informed by a security agent that “scores” died, as bodies were “scattered all over” when rescue operations began.

Meanwhile, the Kaduna State government has imposed a 24-hour curfew within the metropolis following the explosions.

This is contained in a statement issued by the governor’s deputy director, media and publicity, Alhaji Ahmed Maiyaki, in Kaduna.

Gov. Mukhtar Yero described the attacks as the height of ‘cowardice’ by those bent on creating tension in the state, said the statement.

“Following the unfortunate situation, a twenty-four hour curfew has been imposed on Kaduna metropolis with immediate effect, to enable security agencies restore normalcy.

“Enemies of peace have visited us with their ungodly venom of wanton destruction of human lives.

“This blast, coming in the Holy Month of Ramadan, is a clear indication that those behind the act have no iota of fear of God as they have none for the sanctity of human life,” the statement read in part

The governor assured residents of the state that government and security agencies would ensure the security of their lives and property.

Yero urged people in the state to be more vigilant with happenings around them, avoid unnecessary crowded areas, and report suspicious objects and movements to security agencies.

“The time has come for us to eschew all our differences and confront these brazen attacks as united people.

“Those behind these attacks have no regards for whatever diversity as their victims cut across all ethnic and religious divides. It is a responsibility on all of us to unite against this common enemy,” he appealed.

The governor commiserated with families of victims of the blasts and directed security agencies to intensify surveillance while they pursue perpetrators of the attacks.

PHOTO: bbc.co.uk