Riot Averted After Nyanya Blast

 

By ONJEWU DICKSON

— April 14, 2014

Youths at the scene of yesterday’s bomb blast in an Abuja suburb almost took the frustration on security personnel who were battling to control the crowd that had thronged the Nyanya Motor Park, scene of the incident.

It took a combined team of Army, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, FRSC, and anti-riot Police to control the crowd, who blamed the incident on government’s inability to provide the area with adequate security.

One of the youth who craved anonymity told LEADERSHIP that they were angry that the government had been paying lip-service to security matters and should be blamed for the insecurity.

“We are very angry about what just happened. It is really bad that the
masses get no protection from our government. We would not tolerate
this if the government cannot protect us, we would find means to
protect ourselves,” he threatened.

Another lady at the scene was seeing raining insults on the military men, obviously pouring the frustration of losing her brother in the blast on them as she cried out, “My brother, my brother, why did this happen, security you have failed us.”

Meanwhile, eyewitness account has put the amount of dead people from the Nyanya bomb blast yesterday at over 400, even as several others were injured and several vehicles destroyed.

An eyewitness who was on ground around 6:45am when the bomb exploded, explained that several of the victims that were in the Abuja Urban Mass Transit Company (AUMTCO) that were about 15 within the cordoned area, were students, traveling to Gwagwalada to write their SSCE exams.

Scores of vehicles were completely burnt, with no traces of the
occupants, who were burnt beyond recognition.

As at time of filing this report, the identity of the mastermind was
yet to be known, but eyewitnesses said that the car that was used for
the attack was a golf 2, with Lagos State registration number plates.

Early sympathisers who visited the scene include President Goodluck
Jonathan, accompanied by top security chiefs.

Leadership