The Kogi State Government has denied the reported explosion at a secretariat in Lokoja, the State Capital, describing the publication as misleading and a calculated attempt to cause panic in the state.
In a press statement signed by the Chief Press Secretary to the State Governor, Onogwu Muhammed, the government confirmed that there was a distress call from the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs to the police about “an object that looked like an IED.”
“The Bomb Disposal Unit at the Nigerian Police Force Command located a minute away from the scene was immediately deployed to the area.
“On arrival they found out that it was a plastic Bottle and a Can of insecticide wrapped together with a power source to look like an IED. It was discovered to be a hoax and the object was removed by operatives of Bomb Disposal Unit.
“However, there was no explosion around any government premises in Lokoja as reported by some media platforms,” he said.
However, the Government’s position is at variance with the State Commissioner of Police quoted by Punch Newspaper.
He said, “Yes, what happened was that we were informed of a package that looked like a bomb was left on the premises and I immediately deployed the bomb disposal unit there to assess the object.
“The object was immediately blown up. The explosion you heard was the handwork of our bomb disposing unit brought about by their efforts to blow up the object.”
