Kano bus blast: Many questions, few answers

The Monday night bus blast involving a commercial luxury bus driving into Kano with few passengers on board is continuing to raise more questions among citizens of the state.   The incident occurred along a section of the Kano-Zaria dual carriage way near the Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital (AKTH), a few minutes’ drive into the […]

The Monday night bus blast involving a commercial luxury bus driving into Kano with few passengers on board is continuing to raise more questions among citizens of the state.

 

The incident occurred along a section of the Kano-Zaria dual carriage way near the Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital (AKTH), a few minutes’ drive into the city, when a loud bang, which left the multi-seater bus with shattered windscreens and a damaged tyre, rented the air.

Information available immediately after the incident, although sketchy, indicated that improvised explosive devices (IEDs) had been thrown at the bus by unknown attackers. The devices were said to be made of drink cans.

Weekly Trust gathered that only four persons were on board during the incident, as most of the passengers had disembarked at a park in Na’ibawa, less than half a kilometre away.

Also, initial reports showed that none of the occupants were injured, though attempts to get confirmation from the state police command on the following day of the blast Tuesday failed as its spokesperson did not answer calls to his mobile phone.

The first official confirmation to the incident, however, came early Wednesday morning from the spokesperson of the Joint Task Force (JTF) in Kano, Captain Ikedichi Iweha, who said the blast has injured the driver and onother person.

Giving details, the spokesperson confirmed that it was IEDs that were thrown at the vehicle, adding that the blast shattered windscreens and damaged a tyre. He also explained that the incident occurred between 7:30 and 8pm.

But a day after the incident, rumours had started spreading that the explosion went off inside the vehicle and that the blast occurred as they were being ferried into the state.

Corroborating the speculations, security sources told Weekly Trust that the bus driver was being held by the Kano Command of the State Security Service (SSS) over the possibility that the explosive devices that went off were tossed out of the vehicle.

The sources said security agents were investigating why the luxury bus was coming into the state at that hour of the day and with few passengers on board, alleging that there was a tendency some of its occupants “were aware of a plan.”

Confirming the probe, Director of Kano SSS command, Mr. Bassey Eteng, told Weekly Trust that the service and other security agencies had lunched two strands of investigation. “Investigations are going on for us to really know what happened. Is it that the thing was thrown into the vehicle or that there were something inside the vehicle which exploded? And if there were things inside, who brought them?,” he said.

Eteng who would, however, neither confirm nor deny that the SSS were holding some occupants of the vehicle, including the driver, explained that he was out of the town and could not “say much” about the case.

But on its part, the state police command completely ruled out explosives in the incident, saying the vehicle had a tyre burst.

In a statement by the state police commissioner, Ibrahim K. Idris, the command said it was the tyre burst that “resulted in heavy sound” which was mistaken for a bomb blast.

“Immediately the Anti Bomb Disposal Unit of the Command was deployed to the scene, the whole area was inspected and no any explosive material or debris was recovered. Experts suggested that the sound was apparently due to the intensity of the busted tyre which resulted to its damage and flown opened the cover of the boot.

“There was no any injury or damage to the property, all the luggage was intact. We are urging the members of the press to always be objective in their reporting and cross-check facts before rushing to air them. False reporting as well as showing pictures that do not reflect actual event tend to heighten tension in the society and it will not augur well for the peace and stability of the state and the country at large,” the CP said.

A staff of the transport company told Weekly Trust at the New Road bus park in Kano on condition of anonymity on Wednesday, that the vehicle was attacked. According to him, the bus had developed mechanical fault while on the road, thereby forcing the driver to slow down.

He specifically said the problem had to do with its “nozzles,” adding that the subsequent slow down made it to arrive in Kano late. On getting to AKTH-Zaria Road section of the road, it got caught up in a traffic build up that was apparently created by an ongoing road project, he said.

According to the staff, as the driver slowed down further to navigate out of the hold up, some attackers came by the driver’s side and flung IEDs at the vehicle. He said the driver managed to pull the engine to a stop few metres away, before the occupants quickly abandoned the vehicle and took cover on the ground.

The driver could have been badly injured or killed if not for a metal protector on the bus, which shielded him from the blast impact, he further explained.

Security men arrived later and started shooting into the air apparently to ward off the suspected attackers, he said, claiming that the driver was never arrested. “He is somewhere taking a rest,” he maintained.

But civil servants occupying houses in Kundila Quarters near the scene of the incident said what happened on that day was a bomb blast, which they claimed had shaken them and almost damaged to their homes.

A civil servant who craved anonymity said a loud bang from the blast scared people in the quarters, forcing them to lie down.

“The ceilings in our rooms were violently shaken to a point they let off thick dust and their old fillers,” he said, adding that “our wives who were upstairs quickly rushed down and lied flat on the ground.” The government official further noted that his neighbours had suffered the same fate.

Explaining how it happened, the man recalled that people were preparing to go to the mosque for prayers around 7:06pm, when the blast occurred, adding that it was residents of the quarters who alerted security men.

“One of our friends notified soldiers, who came after about 30 minutes. Thereafter, the police also arrived,” he said, stating that “but before then, the people in the vehicle had stopped a taxi and took away some items.”

“The vehicle’s boot and glasses on the side of the driver had been damaged, but we heard the driver telling security men that it was a bomb that was thrown at them. Our suspicion is that the explosion occurred inside the boot, ripped it open and shattered glasses on the driver’s side,” he added.

The vehicle was evacuated under police escort the next day, the residents said, claiming that the armed police officers refused to board it. “One of them was asked to go inside with the driver, but he flatly refused. In the end, the driver went in and started the vehicle, while the police men escorted, pointing their guns at it,” said another resident who witnessed the evacuation.

While spates of fresh bomb attacks in parts of Kano State since Monday are raising concerns about security, the luxury bus incident, in particular, is intriguing peoples mind and begging for the right answers.