Bomb dated back to Nigeria civil war, stirs tension in Enugu

– A bomb whose production dates back to the
Nigerian civil war has been recovered by
members of the police anti-bomb squad
– The recovery of the bomb stirred tension, even
as police searched to ensure that the site of
recovery is safe again
Enugu state was thrown into a state of panic, as a
bomb as sited at a building within the Ogui axis of
the state.
The Enugu state command of the Nigeria police force
through its operatives of the Explosive Ordinance
Department (Anti Bomb Unit) successfully recovered
the bomb from a building site on Saturday, February
13.
Experts say the unexploded ordinance was part of
the civil war arsenal buried under the ground in the
war affected areas.
According to The Vanguard, Enugu state police
command issued a statement by its spokesman,
Ebere Amaraizu, saying there was no cause for alarm
over the incident.
The command noted that it was an unexploded
device abandoned during the civil war.
Amaraizu said in the statement that: "The Nigeria
Police Force, through its operatives of the Explosive
Ordinance Department, also known as Anti Bomb
Unit has recovered successfully from a building site
an unexploded ordinance, otherwise known as 'UXO',
being part of the civil war left overs, buried on the
ground in the war affected areas.
"The object was recovered from the building site
located around NTA hostel axis of Ogui in Enugu,
following its discovery by the builders as they were
working at the site.
"It was further gathered that the builders on sighting
the suspected object, promptly alerted the state
police command operatives, who also arrived
promptly at the scene for the evacuation of the
unexploded ordinance."
Amaraizu added that: "the area has been rendered
safe by the Explosive Ordinance Department
operatives as the builders are busy doing their
construction at the site."
He recalled that the state police command, through
its spokesman had been sensitizing members of the
public "on the need not to tamper with UXO when
found either during farming, road and building
constructions, amongst others, but to promptly alert
the state command operatives or the nearest police
station, so that operatives can come and evacuate the
object and render the area very safe with their
equipments."
It would be recalled that few months ago, there was
pandemonium as two bombs were detonated at the
WTC primary school polling station in Enugu North
local government area by operatives of the anti-
bomb squad. The bombs were reportedly planted in
a Honda Accord
car and parked behind the WTC primary school by
unknown people awaiting the commencement of
voting.
There have been some cases of bomb blasts in
Enugu. On Saturday, January 24, 2015, there was a
bomb explosion at the national headquarters of the
apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation
, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, located at No 7 Park Avenue,
GRA.
Another explosion was recorded at Eke Ozi market in
Igboeze North Local Government area of the state. A
one-year-old baby was feared dead and others
wounded following the incident which was said to
have occurred few meters to the divisional police
headquarters at Ogrute.