Foreign security experts probe explosion

Business activities were suspended in the busy EMAB Plaza and the neighbouring Barnex Plaza on Thursday as foreign security experts were deployed to investigate Wednesday’s bomb blast     in the area.

Our correspondents saw five foreign forensic experts alongside their Nigerian counterparts at the scene of the explosion .

Force Public Relations Officer, Frank Mba, had shortly after the blast said 21 people were killed and   17 others injured. The death toll however rose on Thursday with the death of two injured people at the National Hospital, Abuja.

Other security agents were also   seen searching buildings   in the shopping malls   for abandoned Improvised Explosive Devices.

Some commercial banks located along Aminu Kano Road also could not open for business as the vicinity was cordoned off by the investigating security team.

The affected banks are Zenith Bank on Aminu Kano Crescent, Fidelity Bank Plc and Diamond Bank Plc whose facilities were affected by the blast and First City Monument Bank Plc.

Many   traders in the two plazas were seen   discussing the incident and the closure of the shopping facilities.

One of them, Isiaka Aliu, told journalists that they were worried over the suspension of business activities in the plazas.

Aliu, who is the Chief Engineer, Ex- Communications, said,   “You can see that all the shops are under lock and key as a result of the investigations into the blast. This is where we survive.   The   people who are gathered are worried that their customers may not want to patronise the plazas again.

“We have paid the rent for the year and see what is happening. Government should please stand by us.

“Many people will not come here again because naturally, they would be scared. We don’t even know when this investigation will end.”

He   faulted the internal security arrangement at the busy plazas, saying   the guards on duty only embarked on random checking of vehicles for only two days after they got information in December, 2013 that insurgents   planned to bomb the facilities.

He also wondered why the stall owners and shoppers were not evacuated since there was a rumour on Wednesday about a plot to bomb the plaza.

Aliu added that   the heavy presence of soldiers from the Guards Brigade of the Nigerian Army, policemen and other security operatives   close to the area two hours before the incident was an indication that they also heard the rumour .

One of the suspects was shot dead and another arrested by soldiers while   fleeing the area on a power bike after the explosion. Another was shot dead at the scene of the blast.

There are however   indications that the explosive that rocked the EMAB Plaza was a car bomb.

The Chief Security Officer of Banex Plaza II, Mr. Davis Emeka, who also spoke to journalists on Thursday said that he had information that the car used for the deadly operation was searched by the security personnel before the bomb went off.

According to him, the security people could not locate the IED which was said to have been hidden in the booth of the car.

He added, “You know that the security situation in the plaza is very poor. They don’t screen cars. The complaint is that customers get angry.

“In December last year, we had information that the Boko Haram was going to bomb the plaza and they (private security guards at the plaza) did random searching for two days and stopped.

“Another thing is that there was a heavy security presence at the plaza two hours before the blast. There were many soldiers around. It was like they suspected that there was a threat in the area.

“What is curious is that people were not evacuated. They were in this area and that was why they arrested one of the suspects and killed the other. “

Meanwhile, two critically injured victims of the blast   died at the National Hospital, nurses at the health facility told one of our correspondents on Thursday afternoon.

“It is a sad situation. Two more persons packed up (died) today despite our efforts to stabilise them. The pain they face was much because one of them struggled to stay alive but didn’t make it,” one of them said.

A survivor, John Butrus, who described his escape as a miracle,   said he was playing with the daughter of an orange seller   when the   incident happened.

He said, “I went to check a friend of mine in the plaza and I decided to buy orange from the seller.

“The little daughter of the woman was disturbing her so I decided to play with her to divert her attention from the mother, who was peeling the oranges for me.

“It was in the process that the explosion occurred and everything was in disarray. The impact of the blast was less on me and the little girl because we moved a few metres away from the scene.” Butrus said his legs and hands were affected but that the timely treatment by medical experts at the Wuse General Hospital, had stabilised his condition.

Other victims taken to the hospital had been treated and discharged when our correspondent visited the place on Thursday morning.