Bomb scare in Minna

— It’s hoax, say police

There was pandemonium yesterday at the Niger state new secretariat in Tunga area of the state when workers ran for cover at the sight of an object suspected to be a bomb.

Blueprint learnt that civil servants and early visitors to the Abdulkareem Lafene Secretariat in Tunga raised alarm on seeing the small bag which was later discovered to contain water can and perfume bottles.
The object was said to have been placed on the entrance to the Head of Service (HoS) office in the block that accommodates at least four ministries, including the Ministry of Local Governments, Chieftaincy Affairs and Community Development.

Witness account said on sighting the object, people took to their heels shouting ‘bomb, bomb, and bomb’ and that the police were immediately contacted.
It was also learnt that the anti-bomb squad of the police was dispatched to the scene led by an Assistant Commissioner of Police in charge of operations, Mr. Emmanuel Olokor, to detonate the object only to discover that it was not a bomb.
Olokor later held the object up and threw away the contents to assure the on-lookers that the object was not a bomb as earlier rumoured.
He later enjoined the people to go about their duties without any fear, describing it as “mere hoax.”