12 killed in Abuja blast

.Dozens injured, 6 cars razed .No rush to apportion blame – Police At least 12 people were killed and dozens injured when a car bomb exploded at a bus stop in Nyanya, Abuja, just meters away from the scene of a similar blast that killed 75 nearly three weeks ago.More than 30 other people were […]

.Dozens injured, 6 cars razed

.No rush to apportion blame – Police

At least 12 people were killed and dozens injured when a car bomb exploded at a bus stop in Nyanya, Abuja, just meters away from the scene of a similar blast that killed 75 nearly three weeks ago.
More than 30 other people were injured, 11 of them rendered unconscious, according to hospital officials.
The huge explosion happened at about 7.55pm near a military checkpoint at Nyanya, just kilometres from the city centre.
It sparked a fire ball that engulfed five other cars at the park.
Sound of the blast was heard many kilometres away.
A witness who gave his name as Aliyu said he found himself near the gutter, thrown away by the impact of the explosion.
Daily Trust correspondents, who were at the scene of the incident soon after it happened, reported seeing a destroyed Golf car which was apparently carrying the bomb.
There was blood everywhere, and moments later security personnel cordoned off the area.
“Everyone was running for dear life while vehicles were turning back,” said a resident who was near the scene when the blast occurred.
The level of destruction was far less than that of the April 14 bombing, mainly because yesterday was a public holiday.
“The damage is not anywhere near the one that happened the last time,” a witness said, adding that this was because yesterday was a work-free day and so there were far fewer people around.
Witnesses said a car laden with explosives appeared to blow up near the military checkpoint where traffic had built up.
“There was a loud blast then a ball of fire,” witness Lateef Adebayo told Reuters by telephone from Nyanya. “There were many dead bodies and ambulances were rushing there.”
Another witness, Joe Udofia, said there was a “deafening explosion, then the area near Nyanya bridge was on fire. There were many people in the vicinity.”
Nyanya residents in their hundreds gathered at the scene of the blast even as bomb experts, soldiers and the police were picking things suspected to be parts of the explosive devices.
The blast occurred just by the main road leading into the city centre beside the motor park where a bomb killed 75 people during morning rush hour on April 14.
Officials of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), police and military immediately mobilised to the scene to evacuate the corpses and the injured.
Firefighters arrived on time to put off the fire that resulted from the blast, witnesses said.
Daily Trust reporters visited the hospitals where the injured and the dead were taken, including the Nyanya Hospital, Asokoro District Hospital and National Hospital.
At the Nyanya hospital, officials had a hectic time trying to restrain people who trooped there to catch a glimpse of the casualties who were receiving treatment for broken limbs.
Six dead and seven survivors were brought to the National Hospital, medics said.
Our reporter observed that emergency workers remained on standby at the National Hospital emergency unit late into the night in case more casualties were brought in.
At the Asokoro hospital, our reporter saw at least a dozen injured people on stretchers and fitted with intravenous fluids. Officials said 30 people with injuries were brought there.
Journalists were driven away, with the Asokoro hospital medical director Ahmadu Abubakar saying: “We don’t need media here now. You can’t be here.”
Conflicting death toll
Security and relief agencies gave conflicting figures of the dead and injured, which were also fewer than the numbers given by witnesses and hospital officials.
The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) police command told Daily Trust that 12 people were killed, 19 injured while 6 vehicles including the one with the bomb were destroyed.
“Investigations have already commenced. The IGP, DIG Ops and the CP FCT all visited the scene. Security agencies have taken over the scene,” said the command’s spokeswoman DSP Altine Daniel.
Spokesman for the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Manzo Ezekiel, had earlier told Daily Trust that nine people were confirmed dead on the spot while 18 wounded were evacuated to hospital.
In a joint statement later last night, the NEMA spokesman and his counterpart for the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps Emmanuel Okeh said, “While security agencies have condoned the area of an explosion this evening in Nyanya Abuja, response agencies have moved injured victims to hospitals and at least nine (9) lifeless bodies have been deposited in the mortuary while 11 unconscious victims are receiving medical attention in different hospitals in Abuja.”
The Police Force Public Relations Officer, Frank Mba, who spoke to journalists at the scene of the blast, said: “We suffered an explosion at about 7.55pm. The impact of the explosion led to the explosion of other five vehicles in addition to the car that was with the Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs). We equally lost so far 12 citizens and 19 suffered various injuries.”
No one has yet claimed responsibility for last night’s bombing, but blame is likely to fall on the Boko Haram sect which said it carried out the April 14 Nyanya attack.
Police force spokesman Mba said last night it was too early to say who was responsible for the latest bombing.
“We will equally tell you that the figures we have given are provisional as this is fresh. In this period we should not allocate blame to anybody,” he added.
Last night’s attack came just a week before the World Economic Forum on Africa scheduled for May 7-9 in Abuja.
The forum is expected to bring together many international leaders, policy makers and entrepreneurs.
The Federal Government had announced a massive security deployment to protect the summit which is due to be attended by the Chinese Prime Minister, African leaders and many other international personalities.
The government and the military have been under intense pressure to step up security in the country following the April 14 Nyanya attack and the abduction of over 200 schoolgirls by suspected Boko Haram militants.