Police deactivate ‘IED’ in Lagos

The police command in Lagos says it has deactivated an improvised explosive device (IED) from exploding in the Ikeja area of the state on Wednesday.

Benjamin Hundeyin, the police spokesperson in Lagos, said the IED, which was contained inside a bag, was dropped by the roadside near the federal operations unit (FOU), Zone A of the Nigeria Customs along Mobolaji Bank Anthony Way in Ikeja.

Hundeyin said an officer on patrol identified the man who dropped the package, adding that the suspect came down from an unregistered Toyota Corolla vehicle.

He said the command’s anti-bomb squad immediately came to the scene to implode the IED before it went off.

“The officer sighted a young man who alighted from the car and carefully dropped a bag by the side of the FOU Zone A fence. The young man returned to his car and zoomed off,” the police spokesperson said.

“Based on the report, a team of EOD-CBRN experts from the base quickly mobilised to the scene to identify the object.

“On arrival, it was confirmed that truly the item is IED. Subsequently, the area was cordoned off, and the IED was rendered safe and thereafter detonated accordingly.

“Meanwhile, the residual of the IED was collected for further analysis and investigation.”