BOMB FOUND IN ABIA STATE - MILITARY BARRICADES AREA

Residents of Ohafia in Abia State were jolted yesterday by reported discovery of bombs in the community.

This was coming barely three weeks after Improvised Explosives Devices (IEDs) were discovered at the headquarters of the Living Faith Church (a.k.a Winners Chapel) in Owerri, Imo State and the arrest of 486 Boko Haram suspects at Aro Ngwa Junction and Imo Gate, near Aba.

But when contacted, Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) of Abia State Command, Geoffrey Ogbonna, denied the discovery of any bomb in the area, saying what happened was just a bomb scare.

Reports said at about 9.00a.m. yesterday after some herdsmen had passed the area, between the house of Nigerian Ambassador to Canada, Chief Ojo Maduekwe and that of the member representing Ohafia South in the state House of Assembly, Mba Ukaha, soldiers on duty along the Ebem/Asaga Road received information about some strange objects found in the area.

The soldiers were reported to have, after seeing the objects, alerted their superiors at the 14 Brigade headquarters, Ohafia and after visiting the site, they ordered the cordoning off of the area while vehicles were stopped from plying the Ebem/Asaga Road.

Our source said men of the Bomb Disposal Unit of the Abia State Command of the Nigeria Police in Umuahia were immediately drafted to the area and on their arrival saw one of the bombs allegedly connected to a high tension wire.

The police were said to have detonated the bombs and took them to Umuahia for analysis.

Our source said the bombs discovery caused pandemonium in the area as people who had gone to work, on hearing about the incident, rushed back home.

“It was around 9.30a.m. after I had already gone to work that I received the information and I had to rush back home. On my way back, I stopped to see some of the soldiers at the checkpoint because we are friendly and they confirmed the incident to me and I had to rush home immediately,” the source, who would not want his name in print, said.

“Thereafter, the road was cordoned off for about three hours even after the bomb disposal experts from the police had left with the objects to Umuahia,” the source, who would not want his name in print, said.