The police and Ebonyi state government have been accused of lying about the cause of the explosion that killed a man in Afikpo.
Man killed in the Ebonyi bomb explosion
The government of Ebonyi state and the police have been accused of lying to Nigerians about the bomb that exploded in the state.
The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, HURIWA faulted claims by the government and police that the explosion was caused by teargas.
We had reported that an explosion occurred opposite Amizi Amangbala Primary School in Afikpo North in Ebonyi State on Tuesday which plunged residents into tension while passersby ran for safety.
Some residents who witnessed the explosion, said a suicide bomber was trying to gain access into the primary school before he accidentally blew himself.
However, the state’s police command debunked the report, saying a police officer mistakenly hit the lead of his grenade which was hanging on his waist with his elbow resulting in the deadly explosion.
A statement by the Special Assistant to the Ebonyi State Governor on Media and Publicity, Francis Nwaze also described the report as the handiwork of mischief-makers.
Reacting, HURIWA in a statement on Wednesday by its National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko said the explanation from the police command contradicted the statement from the state government.
The group called for an “independent forensic investigation” into the explosion.
The statement reads in part, ”We do not accept the official explanation given by the Ebonyi State Government and the contradictory explanation by the police on the same incident.
“We want the Ebonyi state governor David Nweze Umahi and Commissioner of police to clarify us because one of them or even the two of them have lied to us through their aides.
“Now, the bigger question is this, assuming without conceding that the Policeman was carrying a grenade, as we were told by the Ebonyi State Government, what is a lone, and indeed very low level policeman doing with a military grade weapon in a civilian populated area such as secondary school children? Is Afikpo in a state of war and is the school premises the theatre of war?
“Supposing we go by the line of the Ebonyi State police that the policeman was carrying teargas Canister that exploded and killed him, the question is, what was a policeman doing alone in a peaceful school environment with a teargas that exploded and killed him?
“Was there riot in that school environment that only him went to quell? Ebonyi State government and the Ebonyi State Command are twin evils and haven’t told Nigerians the whole truth and nothing but the truth and Nigerians should take their conclusion with a pinch of salt. We in HURIWA see the two accounts as very poor crafting of a badly delivered propaganda”.