• 18 Killed, 41 Injured Security Beefed Up In FCT

• We Back Buhari On Anti-terror, Says PDP

• APC, Atiku, Others Flay Attack

• President Restates Vow To Stamp Out B’Haram

BARELY 24 hours after Nigeria celebrated its 55th independence anniversary, bomb blasts on Friday night rocked the Kuje and Nyanya areas of the nation’s capital, killing 18 persons and injuring 41 others.

The incident is the latest in what is becoming a disturbing rise in the number of bombings that have hit the Federal Capital Territory.

On April 14, 2014, a blast ripped through a bus station, killing over 70 persons and wounding more than 120. Another, at a shopping plaza on June 25, 2014, claimed the lives of 21 persons and injured 17 others. The United Nations headquarters on August 26, 2011 was the scene of a suicide attack that killed 26 people.

This latest attack is coming on the heels of recent and significant gains by the military in its war against Boko Haram insurgents in the North East of the country.

When The Guardian visited the scene of the blast, early yesterday, human parts still littered the ground near Kuje market.

A victim of the Nyanya blast, Joy Fidelis, said all she saw was a car that was pushed and parked close to where she sold things. A deafening bang followed, after which she fell unconscious and was rushed to the hospital.

One Mallam Bashir Sabo said: “I was selling provisions with my brother. A car parked by the road. I told the driver to move it away but he refused, saying he wanted to buy something. He left the car and was followed by another woman from a second car. After a while, I heard a bomb explode from the first vehicle. I fell to the ground. As I tried to stand up, another bomb exploded from the second car.”

The Guardian visited the Asokoro General Hospital and gathered that of the six injured people brought to the facility on Friday night, five were in a stable condition while the other patient was transferred to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) for surgery.

The Director General of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Mohammed Sani-Sidi, who led some of the evacuations and visited victims in the hospitals, promised that the government would foot the medical bill of the injured.

A high-level government delegation, led by the Chief of Staff (CoS) to the President, Mallam Abba Kyari, was at the hospital, yesterday, to commiserate with the victims. Also on the team were the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Gen. Tunde Olonishakin; Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Babachir David Lawal, FCT Commissioner of Police, Wilson Inalegwu, and other top officials.

The team, which arrived at about 11.30 am, was received by the Ag. Medical Director of the hospital, Dr. Onyegbutulem Henry, who conducted it round wards where the victims were receiving treatment.

Journalists were, however, denied access to the victims by stern looking security personnel. Speaking to reporters after the departure of the delegation, Dr. Henry, said three persons were brought into the hospital dead, while seven others sustained various degrees of injury.

“We have three bodies brought in to this hospital and they have been taken care of, embalmed and prepared. One has already been identified and claimed, and of the other two, we are still waiting for their relatives. And then we have seven patients in our wards, currently, and they are all stable,” he said.

Asked if there were blood transfusion challenges, the medical officer responded in the negative, adding that the hospital was on top of the situation.

“No, we don’t have any challenge currently. Drugs and all the requirements of the patients are available. We have already made arrangements and patients are being fed. The Medical Emergency Unit was activated since last night (Friday), and they have been up and doing to make sure that necessary attention is given to the patients,” Henry said.

Asked the possibility of receiving more victims, he answered: “For now, we don’t know, except if there are referrals from other hospitals to us here.”

He would not allow reporters to speak with any of the victims, citing the need to spare them the trauma of facing television cameras.

FCT Coordinator of Emergency Agency, Abbas Idris, confirmed to the Hausa Service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) monitored in Abuja yesterday that no fewer than 13 people, including the bombers died in the explosion, while two persons were confirmed dead in the Nyanya blast.

He said: “We got the report of these unfortunate incidents in Kuje and Nyanya, where twin bombs exploded almost simultaneously; one near a police station and market that has led to the injury of so many people. In Kuje, we lost 13 people and a lot of others were injured. We took them to various hospitals in town.

“As regards the Nyanya blast, there was a difference of 45 minutes between the two: the Kuje incident took place at 10 pm, while that of Nyanya took place almost 45 minutes later. While we were still in the process of assisting the Kuje victims, we got the reports of that explosion, and we had to send our team to begin the process of attending to them. At that incident, two people died.”

The Inspector-General of Police, meanwhile, has ordered a massive stop-and-search in and around the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

Residents of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) woke up yesterday to heavy gridlock, as security checks resumed in parts of the city. Mostly affected is the Kure-Nyanya expressway, linking the FCT with Nasarawa, Plateau, Benue, Bauchi and other northern states. Also in the city centre, on-the-spot checks resumed, as a combined team of the police, Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and Vehicle Inspection Officers (VIO) took positions in strategic places.

Other areas include the popular Berger Junction, and the Area 1 roundabouts, noted for heavy traffic. This is in addition to increased patrol by men of the Nigerian Army within the capital and at the Nyanya axis.

The Inspector General of Police (IGP) Solomon Arase, in a statement signed by Acting Assistant Commissioner of Police Olabisi Kolawole, assured residents on the preparedness of the police to provide adequate security of lives and property, despite the incident.

Security expert and Executive Secretary of the Centre for Crisis Communication (CCC) Air Commodore Yusuf Anas (rtd) said the incident “is a function of desperation on the part of the insurgents to try to show they are capable of inflicting a lot of damage on the nation. It’s not in doubt that they are at the receiving end, so they would try to fight with all they have, wanting to show that they are capable of inflicting attacks on parts of the nation, especially the FCT.”

On whether the incident occurred because security in the FCT had been relaxed with many checkpoints removed, Anas said: “The security is not porous. But the agencies need to continue to synergise and enhance collaboration among themselves, to be able to monitor some of the movements of these terrorists.

“We are aware that they are being flushed out of different parts of the Sambisa Forest. So, definitely, they would be seeking to find their way into other parts of the country, especially the North. What we need now is more intelligence gathering, especially on the aspect of the increasing population in all parts of the country. Once there is a suspicious group of people coming in, they should be alert enough to know, so that they can monitor strangers. It is these isolated strangers that are causing the havoc we are seeing today.”

THE bombing has continued to draw condemnation from Nigerians. President Muhammadu Buhari, in a statement he personally signed, said: “It is clear this battle is not ideological. It is between the forces of peace and order and the evil forces of murder and destruction. Security forces and other local authorities have been instructed to maintain extra vigilance to forestall future attacks.”

He condoled with the families of the dead and prayed for the speedy recovery of the injured, reiterating the determination of his government to “stamp out Boko Haram and all other terrorists of whatever persuasions and bring all sponsors to justice.”

The President, who disclosed that similar terrorist attacks in Maiduguri and Yola, were apparently timed to coincide with the nation’s independence celebrations added: “These cowardly attacks expose the real face of the planners and perpetrators of these crimes. What quarrel do they have with the good people of Nyanya motor park? What issue do they have with innocent people in market places in Maiduguri, Yola and Kuje?”

PDP National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh, in a statement, yesterday, said the party was shocked by the news of the gruesome incident and is “particularly pained that the senseless and wicked attacks came just 24 hours after the nation celebrated its 55th independence anniversary, when the citizens and their leaders renewed their faith in the oneness and progress of the nation.”

The party said: “The PDP deeply grieves for the continued acts of terrorism, especially in the northern parts of the country, where insurgents are still slaughtering innocent Nigerians almost by the day. Indeed, this is not the way to go.

“We can no longer afford to continue to have our people cut down and slaughtered. We all, as Nigerians, must therefore close ranks and present a common front in support of our government and security forces in the fight against terrorism in our country.”

Commiserating with the families of those who lost their lives, the PDP urged government officials to do less talking and pay more attention to issues of intelligence gathering, as well as social and direct military actions against terrorism, urging Nigerians to remain vigilant and continue to support and pray for the security forces, as they risk their lives to ensure the safety of other citizens.

In a statement issued yesterday by National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said the attacks, as well as other recent ones, are part of spineless tactics of the terrorists to focus on soft targets, after the military has succeeded in putting them on the run.

The APC condoled with the families of those who were killed in the Friday attacks and wished the injured speedy recovery. It also appealed to Nigerians to be vigilant, warning that insurgents smoked out of their strongholds may seek refuge elsewhere across the country.

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) described the attacks as barbaric and cowardly, even as it reiterated its support for “each and every policy undertaken by the government of President Muhammadu Buhari aimed at ending insurgency and checking criminal activities in our nation.”

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar urged Nigerians not to despair or give in to terrorists’ blackmail, which according to him is Boko Haram’s psychological tool for intimidating and forcing citizens into surrender and inaction.

Atiku said by the latest bomb blasts in Abuja, Boko Haram terrorists wanted Nigerians to believe they are invincible, and thereby paralyse the country with fear and force it into submission.

He called on people not to be deceived by desperate tactics that primarily target non-combatants or innocent and defenceless civilians. According to him, Boko Haram terrorists have been militarily degraded by the new offensive strategy adopted by the Muhammadu Buhari administration.

Conveying his condolences to the victims and their families, Atiku said he was convinced that given the sincerity of the Buhari administration, the country would see the end of terrorism. He also called on Nigerians to be extra vigilant.

Also condemning the incident, Senator Shehu Sani (representing Kaduna Central Senatorial District) said: “The bombing stands unreservedly condemned. It’s dastardly, despicable and utterly wicked. Those who unleashed the violence and killed innocent people represent the evil against our values, our co-existence and our future.”

He said the bombing must never weaken the country’s resolve to resist and end terror but rather strengthen faith in the ultimate triumph of good. “We must collectively demolish the wall of fear and combat such cancerous evil threatening to annihilate us all,” he said, expressing condolence with the victims.

Former Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Diamond Bank, Dr. Alex Otti, expressed optimism that the country would surmount its present security challenges and become stronger and more united under the leadership of President Buhari.