Newsie Events Media :
Following the earlier reports that the explosion that took place in Afikpo on Tuesday was caused by a suicide bomber, the Ebonyi State Police Command has come out to deny the report, saying that the incident was nowhere related to a suicide bombing.
According to the spokesperson for the comman, Loveth Odah, said the victim of the blast was a policeman on duty in the area.
The police spokesperson said the policeman was a riot policeman on special deployment in the Afikpo North Local Government Area of the state.
Odah explained that the cop, identified as Idi Aminu, died as a result of an accidental hand grenade explosion.
The blast which occurred opposite the Amizi Amangbala Primary School and the popular Eke Market in Afikpo, threw the residents into panic as passers-by ran helter-skelter.
“He mistakenly hit the lead of his grenade, which was hanging on his waist, with his elbow, resulting in the deadly explosion,” she stated.
Odah said his remains had been evacuated to a mortuary.
She further noted that the victim, was an inspector of police who served in the MOPOL 32 and was not a suicide bomber as being circulated in the social media and other platforms.
However, a source in the area said the incident happened around 10am.
He said the suspected bomber was earlier seen wandering within the area, adding that the suspect “first came into a beer parlour and when the people inquired who he was, he left.”
He was said to have moved to the school side and when the gateman asked him to go back, he made effort to remove his clothes when the explosive went off.
The resident said the people ran helter skelter when the bomb went off but reconvened at the scene of the incident few minutes after only to discover the suspected suicide bomber laying dead in the pool of his own blood..
The state Commissioner for Internal Security and Border Peace, Chief Stanley Okoro-Emegha, confirmed the incident, but noted that he had yet to get the details.
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