Benin Explosions Not Terrorist Attack − Nigerian Army

The Nigerian Army has dispelled the speculation that Tuesday’s multiple blasts, which injured two persons and destroyed four buildings on Zomi Zomi Street, in Ikpoba-Okha Local Government Area of Edo State, was a terrorist attack.

The Commander of the 4 Brigade Command, Benin, Brigadier-General Farouk Yahaya, disclosed this to journalists on Wednesday, shortly after an on-the-spot assessment of the scene of the incident.

Two explosions had rocked one of the buildings, identified as house 41, off Upper Sakponba road in Benin, on Tuesday evening when one of the tenants, Elue Chinedu, reportedly set fire on a heap of refuse within the compound.

It was gathered that one of the affected buildings had been used a hideout by suspected kidnappers but later abandoned after some soldiers reportedly raided it, following a tip off.

The building, whose owner was said to be deceased, had remained desolate until it was ‎rented out in 2015.

Although no life was lost in the incident, the impact of the blasts ripped through house 39, destroyed several properties, belonging to one Mr. Johnbull Omoruyi and sent the neighbours and passers-by fleeing for safety..

Chinedu, who explained that he was a chemist and had rented one of the apartments nine months ago, said that he was on his way to buy some ice cream when the first explosion occurred.

Elue, who also noted that he sustained injuries in the process, said that his co-tenants were not in the house when the incident happened.

‎‎Yahaya, who noted that some military personnel had earlier inspected the scene, said, “By my assessment and by that of others, it is obvious (that) it is not a terrorist attack. It is not an attack on this place. The people around here can bear witness; we do not think it is an attack. Perhaps, you can describe it as an accident or something that was buried there that has maybe exploded.”

Asked if the building had been used to keep kidnapped victims‎, having been raided by the military two years ago as a suspected den of kidnappers, Yahaya said, “I am not in a position to say what it was meant (for). But security agencies are always on the trail of criminals.”

He added, “Sometimes, they can be kidnappers, armed robbers or even cultists. Based on information, we conduct what is called cordon and search, to search an environment or a place we suspect. But too say what was there two years ago, I am not in a position to say so. But what we saw suggests that whoever was there was having the material (IEDs) you saw.

“Probably they keep them there; when they want to use them, they carry them. But when they were raided, they abandoned the place and did not remember to carry what they left. And thank God they (criminals) they did not carry them. If they had, they would have used them somewhere else.‎”

The Police Public Relations Officer, Osifo Abiodun, said that Chinedu was taken for questioning to ascertain how the IEDs got the building, adding that samples from the debris had been obtained to aid the investigation.

He, however, urged residents of the area to go about their normal activities, as the building had been “cleaned up.”