Defence Minister, Prince Adetokunbo Kayode, yesterday, vowed that the Federal Government will not spare any effort to arrest the perpetrators of the deadly bomb explosion that occurred on new year’s eve at the Mammy Market of the Mogadishu Cantonment, Abuja.
He made the disclosure even as he noted that government was prepared to seek the assistance of foreign experts if need be to get to the roots of bomb blasts, saying, “If we try to get the perpetrators and we cannot, we will seek foreign assistance because it is no longer a local matter.”The minister, who fielded questions from journalists after a visit to the scene of the blast, as well as the Mogadishu Reference Hospital and the Asokoro General Hospital where the victims were taken to for treatment, stressed that the perpetrators of the dastardly act were bent on creating the impression that there is no security in the country.
“It is a deliberate act. The perpetrators want to create problems between soldiers and civilians, between Muslims and Christians. Government will not allow that. The perpetrators are here, they are not from the moon and we will get them”.
On who the government was suspecting, the minister said, “We are not suspecting anybody. It is a security challenge but we are on top of the situation. We have the wherewithal to investigate the matter and we will get experts from anywhere to assist us because issues like this involve partnership”.
Disclosing that four persons died: three men and a woman, while 26 persons sustained various degrees of injuries, the minister said government was taking full responsibility for the treatment of those in the hospital and those that died. “All the dead are civilians”, Adetokunbo added.
Asked if the fact that the bomb exploded at a military location was not an indictment on the nation’s security, the minister said, “It is not an indictment or assault on the military because it happened outside the barracks where people go to for relaxation”.
He said as a result of the blast, all security agencies have been appropriately deployed into action and that government had directed the rejuvenation of the modus operandi of all internal security operations in the country.
Meanwhile, the Presidency reacted angrily yesterday to a foreign media report that President Goodluck Jonathan has blamed the Friday bombing at the Mogadishu Barracks on the Islamic Sect, Boko Haram saying he couldn’t have said so since security agencies have not pin pointed any group as investigations was still on going.
It described the report as an outright lie aimed at destabilizing Nigeria.
A statement signed by Ima Niboro, special adviser to the president on media and publicity, titled, Al Jazeera correspondent out to destabilize Nigeria, reads, “Our attention has been drawn to the unfounded and sensational news item on Al Jazeera television claiming that Nigerian President, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, has blamed the fundamentalist group, Boko Haram, for the bomb blast which occurred in Abuja yesterday”.
“This is an outright lie. Nowhere, and at no time has the President held any particular group responsible for the attack. Additionally, neither the Nigerian security services nor the Nigerian government have confirmed those behind the attacks”.
“It amounts to sheer sensationalism to attribute to the president or the federal government any such claim. It is irresponsible journalism and we condemn it out rightly”.
“The statement from the president’s media office was clear when it said that evil people determined to turn the joys of fellow Nigerians to ashes detonated a bomb at a barracks market in the Federal Capital
City .”
It noted that “If we meant Boko Haram, or any other group, we would state it very clearly. But Al Jazeera’s unique journalism in Nigeria is not
strange to us. When the tragedy of the October 1, 2010, bomb blasts occurred, they went to town with outlandish claims against the presidency that were unfounded and unsubstantiated”.
“This brand of journalism defies reason. For the purpose of clarity, neither the President nor the security agencies have come out to state those behind the attacks. Investigations are on, and at the end of the day, the real culprits would be unmasked”.
“There is also the need to state, again for the purpose of clarity, that four persons were killed in yesterday’s attack. Twenty_ Six others were wounded, one of them a soldier” the statement said.
Source:http://www.vanguardngr.com
No comments:
Post a Comment