UPDATED: Massive blast foiled at Kano mosque

Kano State would have recorded yet another massive blast on Friday, the state commissioner of police, Alhaji Adenrele Tasheed Shinaba, has said.

Addressing journalists on Friday, he said 13 explosive devices were planted near a Mosque in Sauna Fafunga in Dakata area of Nassarawa LGA.

The mosque received an unusually high number of worshipers on Friday ahead of this year’s Ramadan fasting, which is expected to start on Saturday or Sunday.

Kano has been a target of several terrorist attacks in the past, including bombings of a church, a school, bus station and security formations, which led to the death of hundreds.

The suspects parked a starlet car (pictured) around 2pm near the mosque, waiting for prayers to commence.

A 10-year-old boy is said to have alerted the police authorities on the suspicious car.

The divisional police officer (DPO) in Dakata, Sani Ahmed, was said to have in turn alerted the Bompai police headquarters.

The anti-bomb squad swiftly came to detonate the bombs.

On Monday, a bomb killed seven persons and injured 20 others at the School of Hygiene within the metropolis.

Shinaba described the IEDs as “high profile calibre”.

He said: “If they had succeeded the whole area would have gone down and the sound alone would have shaken the foundations of Kano. The explosion would have been devastating and many lives would have been lost.

“Today, being Friday, at a place called Sauna Fafunga in Dakata area, we got information that we should come and see a vehicle that was parked within the vicinity of a Juma’at Mosque. Our anti-bomb team responded promptly. On searching the vehicle, we discovered high caliber IEDs, about 13 in number, which can rein a whole village.

“We asked people to leave the area and when we detonated one of them, it shook the majority of the buildings around the area; and in fact, one of the buildings had a big crack as a result of that. The IEDs had the capacity to pull down all the structures around that area. We also discovered ammunition. Their intention was to stay around and shoot people who could escape the explosion.

“I am an advocate of community policing; and I appreciate the support we have been receiving from members of the public. We appreciate the people of Kano and we urge them to continue to support us with useful information. We promise never to disclose the identity of anyone who bring information to us and we also urge residents to remain security conscious at all times.”