Explosion: 15 Persons Injured In Gombe State

NO fewer than 15 people were injured in an explosion that occurred at a hotel located on the outskirts of Gombe on Wednesday evening.

The manager of the hotel, Mr Ojiego Nelson, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Gombe, on Thursday, that three persons came to the hotel at about 10.13 p.m. on Wednesday to detonate a device.

Nelson said that he was at the gate of the hotel when the men, who were carrying guns, started “manhandling” the security man and when he asked what was happening, they started shooting sporadically.

“Our customers and everybody started running helter-skelter and the one with two gas cylinders in his hands threw them into our reception.

“He threw one into the reception and threw the other one under the cars parked by our guests in the hotel.

“The one thrown into the reception exploded and damaged the building, so we just managed to escape through the back fence,” he said.

The manager said that as soon as the incident happened, all the customers vacated their rooms in the hotel.

He said the incident was immediately reported to the Divisional Police Officer in Tumfure, Mr Hassan Bappa, who came to the scene with his men.

Bappa later told NAN he deployed his men to the scene of the incident when the matter was reported to him, but that it was unfortunate that the gunmen had escaped before the police arrived.

Bappa said that there was no casualty and nothing was stolen from the hotel.

“We are waiting for bomb experts to come and remove the relics at the scene of the incident,” he said.

He said there was no arrest made so far but investigations were going on.

Meanwhile, undercover security agents on Thursday stormed Sapele in Delta State to unravel the cause of last Tuesday night’s bomb blast which injured about 10 children and a woman.

Nigerian Tribune observed the presence of the security agents at the scene of the blast retrieving shrapnel of the bomb and other items that would help in their investigations.

It was gathered the undercover agents were carrying out the investigations in conjunction with other security agencies, particularly the police and the operatives of the Joint Task Force (JTF).

“We have commenced full scale investigations into the blast that occurred at the Islamic school in Sapele. We will definitely get to the root of the blast and try to see if we can apprehend the perpetrators,” a security source disclosed.

At least nine children and a woman were injured in the bomb explosion that rocked an Islamic school in Sapele in Sapele Local Government Area of Delta State on Tuesday night.

The explosion was the second in the town in three weeks after a mosque on Hausa Road was rocked by an early morning bomb blast.

Meanwhile, a clash between a gang of cattle rearers and farmers, in Lemu and Dabu villages in Gwoza Council Area of Borno State, over pastures and the farmers’ failure to evacuate their crops on their farmlands on Thursday left eight persons injured.

The herdsmen allegedly employed bows and arrows and spears to attack the farmers, injuring eight people in their limbs and foreheads, as the farmers attempted driving away cattle destroying crops from their farmlands in the two villages.

Confirming the clashes between the herdsmen and farmers to newsmen in Maiduguri, the Borno State Police Commissioner, Simeon Midenda said: “We received a report of the clashes from Gwoza Council Area, where eight farmers were attacked and injured in their arms and legs by a group of Fulani cattle herdsmen in Lemu and Dabu villages,” adding that no life was lost in the fight between the two groups over pastures and the failure of farmers to evacuate their farm produce.

He said even though no arrests had been made by the police, the eight injured farmers were taken to Gwoza General Hospital for the treatment of sustained arrow and cutlass wounds, while investigations were ongoing on the circumstance that led to the clash between the two groups of people.

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By Sylvester Idowu and James Bwala, with Agency Report

Source: Tribune