Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Bomb explosion injures three in Jos

Jude Owuamanam, Jos


Tension heightened in Jos on Monday as a device believed to be a bomb exploded, injuring three young men in their room at Dadin Kowa area of the Plateau State capital.

[img]http://odili.net/news/source/2010/apr/13/punch/images/pix201004133532125[1].jpg[/img]
Nineteen-year-old bomb suspect, Abdulsaman, at the theatre of the Plateau State Specialist Hospital, Jos, on Monday.


http://odili.net/news/source/2010/apr/13/827.html

One of the three men, Abdulsawad Mohammed, had his two hands blown off while the other two were badly injured in the blast, whose cause was yet to be ascertained as at 10pm on Monday.

The spokesman of the state police command, Mr. Mohammed Lerama, told Agence France Presse, that investigation into the explosion had commenced.

He said, "The three who are friends in their 20s have been hospitalised at the Plateau State Specialists' Hospital and we have commenced investigation to ascertain whether the explosion was an accident or an evil plan gone awry."

The head of Dadin Kowa, Mallam Salisu Abubakar, gave the names of the two other victims as Abubakar Shuibu and Musa Hassan.

Abubakar said immediately he heard the news of the blast, he went to the scene with soldiers where they saw the wounded men and a detonated explosive that looked like the ones used for "blasting rocks."

At the specialist hospital, Abdulsawad told journalists that he saw an object that looked like a fire extinguisher cannister under their bed and as he tried to lift it up, it exploded.

He said, "I woke up this (Monday) morning; went to greet my parents and came back. I was looking for spanner and some items and I saw something like a fire extinguisher under our bed. I lifted it and I started fiddling with it and it exploded. That was what happened to me.

"Honestly, I didn't know who dropped it there (under the bed). We are many in the room. It (room) is usually open and people come in and go out. Even our items, like phones, get missing because of our number in the room. So I don't know who amongst us brought it into the room."

Panic-stricken residents and some investigators are, however, not ruling out the possibility of the explosion being connected to the sectarian clashes which have claimed hundreds of lives this year in Jos and its environs.

Even the Plateau State Commissioner for Information and Communications Technology, Mr. Gregory Nyelong, described the blast as "nemesis at work."

On Sunday, three houses and four cars were torched in a Jos surburb by people suspected to be Fulani herdsmen. A 92- year-old-man was said to have received gunshot wounds in the incident.

Our correspondent noticed that many residents of Jos were thrown into confusion as early as 8:30am when the news of the bomb blast spread.

The premises of the specialist hospital became a beehive of activities as hundreds of people trooped in to catch a glimpse of the suspects.

The Chief Surgeon of the hospital, Dr. Philimon Golwa, told our correspondent that Abdulsawad was brought into the emergency ward at 8.30am by soldiers.

The surgeon said that the victim sustained extensive degrees of burns in his chest, and had his hands amputated from the wrists.

He added that Abdulsawad had "bilateral cut with avulsion injury in the chest, left jaw bone and part of the face".

Golwa added, "What we are trying to do now is to arrest active blood vessels that were badly affected and to refashion his tongue and to also arrest the hands that were auto amputated to stop further loss of blood and to hasten healing."

Well it's a Jamb question to ask for the culprits head

What is this new obsession with bombs among Nigerians after Mutallab?. May be there is someone in the country who manufactures these bombs locally. Until we find him/her, these bomber will continue to surface until our name is permanently registered among terrorist nations.

Hmmnn. This story of seeing something like fire extinguisher under the bed is highly suspicious. How are we sure they were not hired and were rehearsing how to use the "bomb" on an opponent? The police should investigate further.

Which police? Nigerian police?. Can they recognize a bomb if they see one?