The Nigerian Police have confirmed that eight persons died while an unspecified number of persons got injured in the massive bomb blast which rocked its headquarters on Thursday morning. A website the "NigeriaPoliceWatch" presented the figures this morning.
The Nigerian Police have confirmed that eight persons died while an unspecified number of persons got injured in the massive bomb blast which rocked its headquarters on Thursday morning. A website the "NigeriaPoliceWatch" presented the figures this morning.
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Also, reports monitored on state run Nigeria Television Authority (NTA) and Radio Nigeria, this morning quoted police spokesperson, Sola Amore, as confirming the casualty numbers on Thursday night.
Police sources however said the death toll is "certainly higher" than the authorities have admitted.
Mr. Amore on Thursday afternoon claimed that only two people - the suicide bomber who drove the explosives-laden vehicle into the complex and the traffic warden who tried to check him - died in the incident.
Radio Nigeria reported that one of its correspondent witnessed six bodies brought into the morgue of the Asokoro District Hospital, about a kilometre from the scene of the blast.
The NTA also showed footage of wounded police officers in uniform who were receiving treatment for various degrees of injuries around the area.
The reports also quoted Mr. Amore as also saying that 73 vehicles were damaged in the incident, with 33 of them beyond repairs.
The police spokesperson had blamed the attack on Boko Haram, the radical Islamic sect with abhorrence for western education.
The Maiduguri-based Islamist network recently condemned the Nigerian police chief for claiming that Boko Haram days "were numbered."
"Definitely, we suspect those that go by the name Boko Haram who have been issuing threat upon threat," Mr. Amore said.
He added that investigation into the incident had commenced, and that forensic experts had been invited to help.
Meanwhile, the incident had sparked widespread outrage across Nigeria, with many Nigerian citizens blasting the police for not detecting and thwarting the blast before it occurred.
"One thought the police headquarters should be the safest place to be," said Mohammed Garba, President of the Nigeria Union of Journalists. "The incident is a shame. It is a national disgrace."
On social networking sites, Facebook and Twitter, many Nigerians are angry and have called on the country's leader, Goodluck Jonathan, to fire the police chief and heads of other security agencies for their inability to curb the rising insecurity in the country
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