NEMA makes U-turn as Wike says Abuja explosion was not suicide bombing

The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has denied attributing Monday afternoon’s explosion in Abuja to a suicide bomber.

On Monday, one person was injured in an explosion at a bus stop opposite the Mogadishu cantonment along the Mararaba-Nyanya expressway.

On Tuesday, in a post made on its X account, NEMA said the explosion occurred when a suicide bomber carrying an improvised explosive device (IED) attempted to sneak into the military barracks.

However, the report was reportedly contradicted on Wednesday by Nyesom Wike, minister of the federal capital territory (FCT).

Responding to questions from journalists during the inspection of some road projects, Wike said security agencies never said it was a suicide bomber.

“So don’t go and create an impression and put fear in people. NEMA is not the head of security. Security agencies are there,” he said.

“What happened was that there was somebody that went to where we have these quarries, where they blast all these rocks.

“The person took the explosive and put it in his pocket. Of course, some of them may not even understand the implication of that, and so it exploded on him.

“So, that does not mean that it is a suicide bomber. We should be careful in the story we are planting; let’s not send the wrong message to the residents.”

‘NEMA SOCIAL MEDIA HANDLE COMPROMISED’

Also, in a statement shared on Wednesday by Lere Olayinka, Wike’s media aide, NEMA distanced itself from the report stating that the explosion was an attempted suicide bombing.

The agency added that the post on X was a result of a breach on the platform.

“Emphasizing that its roles in emergencies is to coordinate stakeholders’ response, the Agency noted that the security agencies are responsible for investigating and establishing the cause of such incidents,” the statement reads.

“It attributed the unverified social media post to a breach of its platform that is currently being investigated.

“The Agency drew attention to its statement on the incident as released by the Press Unit, which reported NEMA’s coordinating response at the scene of the explosion with no reference whatsoever to the cause of the incident, which is the remit of the Nigeria Police and other security agencies.”