Hours To Election Day: 2 Bombs Sent To Buhari

Barely 24 hours to the National Assembly election, two bombs have been sent to the presidential candidate of the Congress for Progressive Change, CPC, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd).

The bombs were discovered and diffused on late Thursday at a rally attended by thousands of Buhari’s supporters in Katsina State, Northern Nigeria, according to a report by the Agence France Presse(AFP)

Supporters of the ex-military ruler spotted two laptop bags abandoned in different spots, said Buhari’s spokesman, Mr. Yinka Odumakin.

Police were notified and the bags were found to contain remote-controlled bombs, Odumakin said, saying that Buhari had not arrived the campaign ground at the time the bombs were discovered.

“A police bomb squad was brought in and they succeeded in diffusing the two bombs. We don’t know who is behind it,” added Odumakin.

Witnesses at the rally gave similar accounts by phone. “The rally went ahead without any incident. No one was arrested,” said Buhari’s spokesman.

Also yesterday, a bomb was discovered under the podium erected for campaign by the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, in Osun State where the Governor, Rauf Aregbesola was to address the rally held at Okuku, hometown of former Governor of the state, Olagunsoye Oyinlola.

Aregbesola and others narrowly escaped death as the Anti-Bomb Disposal Unit of the Nigerian Police discovered that a bomb was planted under the podium and quickly detonated it. The Osun ACN has accused Oyinlola and Senator Iyiola Omisore of being the masterminds of the incident.

Reacting to the incident, the ACN Director of Research and Strategy, Sunday Akere, described the act as criminal and cruel for anyone to want to kill the governor and others.

“The Anti-Bomb team quickly detonated the bomb and, as we are told, had made adequate report of the incident to the appropriate quarters while keeping close watch over the entire arena.

“Prior to today (yesterday), we have had cause to formally report to the police, a piece of information which indicated the evil plans by some unscrupulous elements to unleash terror on the governor’s campaign train especially during the last round of campaigning,” he said in a statement.

According to him, “the desperate politicians must have resorted to the lethal option having discovered that the lid has been blown over the initial plans to just attack the campaign train a la Akwa Ibom style.”

The party also commended the Anti-Bomb unit for its role in preventing the loss of lives and called on security operatives to put Oyinlola and Omisore on close watch.

“We commend the Anti-Bomb disposal unit for being diligent in their work and preventing loss of lives and injuries to many but called on the other arms of the security apparatus to put a close watch on both the sacked Governor Oyinlola and the PDP Senatorial candidate in Osun East Senatorial District, Otunba Iyiola Omisore so as to ensure a crisis free election on Saturday.

“We also wish to call on the leadership of the Police and SSS to recall the hordes of security details attached to Senator Omisore today as failure to do so amounts to abuse of position and giving unnecessary and undeserved advantage to the PDP candidate which is sufficient to mar Saturday’s election,” Akere said.

—Kazeem Ugbodaga