Bomb Scare In UNIJOS As Soldiers Escape Death

Some soldiers attached to the Special Task Force on Security in Jos narrowly escaped death on Saturday as a bomb planted at the foot of a bridge in Gol-Tahoss in Riyom Local Government Area suddenly exploded.

Few hours after the incident, pandemonium broke out in the Abuja hostel of the University of Jos when four suspected Boko Haram members were said to have infiltrated the hostel.

A student allegedly spotted four people carrying a leather bag and raised the alarm. Three of them fled, while one was caught by the students and handed over to the police.

Police Public Relations Officer, Emmanuel Abuh, who confirmed the incident, said men of the anti-bomb squad were called in immediately and after a thorough search, no device was found in the students’ halls of residence.

He said the students might have been alarmed by the earlier reports of the blast at Riyom, adding that the suspect apprehended by the students was undergoing interrogation.

In the Riyom incident, a security source, who craved anonymity, told our correspondent that it was only providence that saved the soldiers as only one of the two bombs exploded, affecting the beam of the bridge, before the anti-bomb squad arrived to defuse the second one.

The source said, “It was actually the soldiers that were the target, but it was just mother luck that saved them. The two improvised electronic devices were planted on the bridge, which is just 500 metres from the checkpoint.”

Culled from PUNCH