“THANK God the worst did not happen.” This was the reaction of a student fleeing with his colleagues from the Federal College of Education (FCE), Kano yesterday where a device suspected to be a bomb was picked up by the police.
The explosive was thereafter controlled and detonated by the men of the Police Anti-Bomb Squad, who stormed the scene.
But the swift action of the policemen did not restore confidence in the students and residents of the area as they abandoned the premises until the school’s authorities beefed security in the premises.
Also yesterday, policemen in Kaduna disclosed that they arrested two men over Monday’s attack on the private residence of Vice President Mohammed Namadi Sambo in Zaria.
One of the suspects, who was allegedly injured during the exchange of gunshots with the policemen on guard at Sambo’s house, was picked up on a hospital bed while the second was caught during a robbery operation. Another member of the gang, the police said was killed during a gun duel with the bandits.
Students of the Kano college, who relived their experience amid fear and praises to God for averting the disaster, said they were going about freely to write their examinations unknown to them that the “instrument of death and destruction” was planted in their midst.
The Guardian that learnt that the volatile device was discovered by a cleaner at Hall 400, one of the largest lecture theatres on Monday evening.
“After our examinations, the security unit simply asked us to vacate the premises… but I later heard from friends that there was bomb in the college,” a student told The Guardian.
Another student explained that he was already in the class yesterday morning to write his examination before the police came and detonated the bomb.
He said: “I was on the campus when it all started. The anti-bomb team came to the college and brought out something, one of my friends described as a bomb. I couldn’t believe him until the policemen detonated it and we ran for safety.”
After the incident, security was beefed up at the entrance of the college as students and visitors were subjected to thorough search.
But the management of the college dispelled insinuations that the explosive went off after it was planted by some unknown persons.
In a statement signed by the institution’s Public Relations Officer, Auwalu Mudi Yakasai, the management said the swift intervention of the police brought the situation under control.
“The general public is hereby informed that normalcy has returned in the college. Academic activities including the ongoing examinations are going on as planned. Members of staff and students are advised to continue with their lawful duties,” he said.
On the attackers of Sambo’s house, the Kaduna State Acting Police Public Relations Officer, Balteh Abdulrazaq, said: “One of the suspects who sustained injuries from gunshots during crossfire with the policemen guarding the house was identified on a hospital bed by one of the wounded policemen and he was arrested immediately.
“Also, one of the policemen was able to identify one of the four robbery suspects we arrested this morning (yesterday) in Zaria as one of the attackers of the Vice President’s house. One of the hoodlums was also killed in the crossfire by our men.”
Three men on a motorcycle on Monday engaged policemen in sporadic shooting at the Zaria residence of the Vice President, killing a cobbler and injuring two mobile policemen guarding the building.
The house, located on Baba Ahmed Road in Tudun-Wada area of Zaria, was razed during the violence that trailed the April 2011 presidential election. It is currently under renovation.
At the private residence of the Vice President in Kaduna metropolis yesterday, soldiers and policemen mounted roadblocks, and prevented people from walking through the street.
Meanwhile, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, has condemned the resurgence of violence in the North and questioned the rationale for such “mindless destruction of life and property.”
In a statement by his media office in Abuja, Atiku said he was more worried because the attacks were happening “in the sacred month of Ramadan, a period in which violence is forbidden by Allah.”
He also condemned the intensification of “attacks on holy places such as mosques and churches during the season or at any other time for that matter as absolutely indefensible.”
These attacks, he said, violated the known teachings of Islam and other established religions, which place premium on the sanctity of life.
Atiku said: “The latest attacks in Sokoto and the attempted assassination of the Shehu of Borno and Borno State Deputy Governor were completely counter-productive to the interest of peace in the country.”
He regretted that at a time the Federal Government relaxed the state of emergency in violence-prone states to reduce the hardships on innocent Nigerians, the attackers ought to take advantage of the situation and embrace dialogue instead of subjecting Nigerians to more pains.
The explosive was thereafter controlled and detonated by the men of the Police Anti-Bomb Squad, who stormed the scene.
But the swift action of the policemen did not restore confidence in the students and residents of the area as they abandoned the premises until the school’s authorities beefed security in the premises.
Also yesterday, policemen in Kaduna disclosed that they arrested two men over Monday’s attack on the private residence of Vice President Mohammed Namadi Sambo in Zaria.
One of the suspects, who was allegedly injured during the exchange of gunshots with the policemen on guard at Sambo’s house, was picked up on a hospital bed while the second was caught during a robbery operation. Another member of the gang, the police said was killed during a gun duel with the bandits.
Students of the Kano college, who relived their experience amid fear and praises to God for averting the disaster, said they were going about freely to write their examinations unknown to them that the “instrument of death and destruction” was planted in their midst.
The Guardian that learnt that the volatile device was discovered by a cleaner at Hall 400, one of the largest lecture theatres on Monday evening.
“After our examinations, the security unit simply asked us to vacate the premises… but I later heard from friends that there was bomb in the college,” a student told The Guardian.
Another student explained that he was already in the class yesterday morning to write his examination before the police came and detonated the bomb.
He said: “I was on the campus when it all started. The anti-bomb team came to the college and brought out something, one of my friends described as a bomb. I couldn’t believe him until the policemen detonated it and we ran for safety.”
After the incident, security was beefed up at the entrance of the college as students and visitors were subjected to thorough search.
But the management of the college dispelled insinuations that the explosive went off after it was planted by some unknown persons.
In a statement signed by the institution’s Public Relations Officer, Auwalu Mudi Yakasai, the management said the swift intervention of the police brought the situation under control.
“The general public is hereby informed that normalcy has returned in the college. Academic activities including the ongoing examinations are going on as planned. Members of staff and students are advised to continue with their lawful duties,” he said.
On the attackers of Sambo’s house, the Kaduna State Acting Police Public Relations Officer, Balteh Abdulrazaq, said: “One of the suspects who sustained injuries from gunshots during crossfire with the policemen guarding the house was identified on a hospital bed by one of the wounded policemen and he was arrested immediately.
“Also, one of the policemen was able to identify one of the four robbery suspects we arrested this morning (yesterday) in Zaria as one of the attackers of the Vice President’s house. One of the hoodlums was also killed in the crossfire by our men.”
Three men on a motorcycle on Monday engaged policemen in sporadic shooting at the Zaria residence of the Vice President, killing a cobbler and injuring two mobile policemen guarding the building.
The house, located on Baba Ahmed Road in Tudun-Wada area of Zaria, was razed during the violence that trailed the April 2011 presidential election. It is currently under renovation.
At the private residence of the Vice President in Kaduna metropolis yesterday, soldiers and policemen mounted roadblocks, and prevented people from walking through the street.
Meanwhile, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, has condemned the resurgence of violence in the North and questioned the rationale for such “mindless destruction of life and property.”
In a statement by his media office in Abuja, Atiku said he was more worried because the attacks were happening “in the sacred month of Ramadan, a period in which violence is forbidden by Allah.”
He also condemned the intensification of “attacks on holy places such as mosques and churches during the season or at any other time for that matter as absolutely indefensible.”
These attacks, he said, violated the known teachings of Islam and other established religions, which place premium on the sanctity of life.
Atiku said: “The latest attacks in Sokoto and the attempted assassination of the Shehu of Borno and Borno State Deputy Governor were completely counter-productive to the interest of peace in the country.”
He regretted that at a time the Federal Government relaxed the state of emergency in violence-prone states to reduce the hardships on innocent Nigerians, the attackers ought to take advantage of the situation and embrace dialogue instead of subjecting Nigerians to more pains.
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