Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello has claimed the media reports of a bomb explosion in Lokoja on Tuesday, July 26, were “untrue” and “misleading”.
His reaction follows media reports that a loud explosion was heard in the premises housing the office of the Secretary to the Kogi State Government, Dr Folashade Arike Ayoade.
The office premises is next to Lugard street, housing the Kogi State council of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) secretariat.
The loud explosion was heard around 8.30 am on Tuesday as journalists gathered to prepare for the day’s assignments.
But the governor in a statement signed by his Chief of Press Secretary, Onogwu Muhammed, described the report as “fake news,” claiming there was no bomb explosion in the State.
“The attention of the Kogi State Government has been drawn to a false and misleading publication in the media platforms captioned: “Explosion Rocks Kogi Government Office”.
“The government is miffed and views this publication as malicious, false, misleading and a calculated attempt to cause panic and undermine the already improved security situation in the state.
“May we, at this point, state the true facts surrounding the incident that actually occurred earlier this morning of 26/07/2022 around the Ministry of the Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, opposite Muhammadu Buhari Civic Centre, Lokoja.
“There was a distressing call to the police regarding an object that looked like an IED placed on the fence of the Ministry of Local government and chieftaincy Affairs, opposite Mohammad Buhari Square, Lokoja.
“The Bomb Disposal Unit at the Nigerian Police Force Command located a minute away from the scene was immediately deployed to the area.
“On arrival, they found out that it was a plastic bottle and a can of insecticide wrapped together with a power source to look like an IED. It was discovered to be a hoax and the object was removed by operatives of the Bomb Disposal Unit.
“However, there was no explosion around any government premises in Lokoja as reported by some media platforms.
“The state government considers the publication as not only unprofessional but also believes it’s at variance with the ethics of the profession of journalism.
“For the sake of emphasis, we would like to put the record straight that there was no bomb explosion whatsoever in Kogi Government House or offices in Lokoja metropolis.
“The government commends the good people of Kogi for their unalloyed support given to the security agencies in the state and enjoins them to disregard false news as it is capable of causing palpable tension as well as instilling fear in the state, while urging them to go about their normal businesses as there is no cause for alarm,” the statement read.
Verification
Quest Times findings show that the State Commissioner of Police, Edward Egbuka, confirmed there was an explosion as against the governor’s claim.
“Yes, what happened was that we were informed of a package that looked like a bomb was left on the premises and I immediately deployed the bomb disposal unit there to assess the object.
“The object was immediately blown up. The explosion you heard was the handwork of our bomb disposing unit brought about by their efforts to blow up the object,” he told PUNCH.
An insider (name withheld) who spoke to Quest Times reporter via telephone also confirmed there was a bomb explosion adding that “I don’t know why the governor (Yahaya Bello) denied it”.
Conclusion
Relying on available data, Quest Times can confirm that there was a bomb explosion at the government office, which was detonated through the efforts of the Nigeria Police Force. Hence, the loud noise heard by the residents was a result of the object (explosive) which was successfully blown up to avoid disaster in the State.
Credit: Quest Times