Police intelligence shocker: More political rallies likely to be bombed

The Nigeria Police Force
Headquarters has received
intelligence reports that there are
plots to bomb more political rallies
ahead of the re-scheduled general
elections.
This is coming after the recent
bomb blasts in Rivers and Gombe
states.
On Tuesday, a policeman was killed
and 50 other people were injured
when bomb explosions and
gunshots rocked the All
Progressives Congress
governorship campaign rally at
Okrika National Secondary School in
Rivers.
Three Improvised Explosive
Devices were said to have been set
off by yet-to-be identified persons
during the rally.
Similarly, about three weeks ago in
Gombe, two suicide bombers
attacked an area close to where the
Peoples Democratic Party’s
presidential candidate, President
Goodluck Jonathan, had just held a
campaign rally.
The two attackers died in the
explosion, while 18 people were
injured.
Last month, two offices of the APC in
Okrika and Andoni Local
Government Areas in Rivers were
bombed.
The Force Public Relations Officer,
Emmanuel Ojukwu, told SUNDAY
PUNCH that police investigations
showed that it had become easier
for people to make bombs through
the Internet.
Ojukwu told our correspondent
that the ease with which people
now have access to information on
how to make violent attacks
involving the use of explosives to
disrupt political gatherings should
be expected to increase.
“Police investigations on the Rivers
incident are still on-going. As we
are now witnessing, the level of
violence has increased worldwide
and its intensity too.
“We have the ISIS and al Qaeda who
are taking on the world with their
terrorist activities. Today, these
groups have equipped interested
people on how to make bombs
through the Internet. So, we expect
that more people will take
advantage of that to wreak havoc at
campaign rallies,” the police
spokesman said.
He urged political parties,
candidates and their supporters to
be more vigilant when organising
and attending any large political
gathering.
“It is the collective responsibility of
everyone to be security-conscious.
Political parties and their
supporters need to pay more
attention when rallies are being
organised. As the police, we have
the duty to secure lives and
property and we will continue to
do our best to deal with this kind of
situation,” Ojukwu said.
Also speaking on the recent bomb
attacks at political campaigns, the
Public Relations Officer of the
Explosive Ordinance Disposal Unit,
Mr. Gbolahan Moronfolu, stated that
the police was well-equipped to
handle any situation when called
upon.
“The unit is adequately equipped. I
can assure you of that as the
Inspector-General of Police
(Suleiman Abba) has always shown
commitment to ensuring that
public safety comes first. In my unit,
we also embark on awareness
campaigns to acquaint people on
how they can be security
conscious,” Moronfolu said.
Speaking on the development, a
security expert, Simon Udie,
warned that the use of explosive
devices would continue to increase
as long as the two major political
parties, APC and PDP, keep making
inflammatory remarks.
“They should focus more on what
they have for the people. It’s
curious that it’s the same people
they want to rule or serve that they
are attacking. The two major rival
parties need to stop making
comments that will increase
violence.
“The free access to the Internet
isn’t the only reason why we’re
experiencing bomb attacks. These
explosive devices are already in
the country; you can understand
this from the point of view of Boko
Haram insurgents using explosives
freely. You can also understand this
trend considering how easy it was
for the Niger Delta militants to
blow up things,” Udie told SUNDAY
PUNCH.
Another security expert, Segun
Elijah, while warning that more
bomb attacks should be expected,
noted that more worrisome was
the fact that nobody has been
brought to book.
“All those things (bomb explosions
and gun attacks) are expected.
CLEEN Foundation and other
security and election-monitoring
organisations in their threat
analysis of the 2015 elections,
stated that 14 states will boil based
on their predictions. As for the use
of explosives, Nigeria has been
long vulnerable to that threat
because of porous borders, the
poorly regulated mining industry
(cement companies and quarries)
where explosives are used on
industrial scales.
“And the violence is going to
escalate because the PDP-led
government has harnessed all the
security apparatuses that can deter,
detect, deny, and delay the use and
users of bombs. I’m talking about
the Police, the Department of State
Services that gathers intelligence,
and the National Security Adviser,
Sambo Dasuki, whose office
controls the importation of
explosives. In summary,
desperation of politicians and
partisanship of the security
agencies will keep the cauldron of
violence boiling till March 28-and
even beyond,” Elijah said.
The Secretary, American Society of
Industrial Security (Lagos chapter),
Prof. Femi Adegbulu, advised
politicians and other organisers of
large gatherings to “sweep” the
venue of the event a day before by
bringing security experts who will
employ various gadgets to search
for any explosives and other
dangerous objects.
He also added that few hours or
minutes before the event holds,
another check should be conducted
around the arena.
Last week, SUNDAY PUNCH reported
that some chieftains of the major
opposition party had resorted to
making private security
arrangements. These arrangements
included engaging private security
guards (some of which allegedly
carry arms) as well as beefing up
security in and around their homes
and offices.
Asked what the APC is doing to
forestall further occurrence of
bomb blast at rallies, its National
Spokesperson, Mr. Lai Mohammed
said, “Let’s call a spade a spade, you
journalists should tell the PDP and
the Federal Government to call
their thugs of war to order. Their
intolerance is getting too high. We
can’t tell our members and
supporters not to attend rallies or
to come to a rally with a cross or
rosary. Why should it be impossible
to hold a rally in a local
government in Rivers because the
President’s wife comes from
there?”
The National Publicity Secretary of
the PDP, Mr. Olisa Metuh, however,
said his party had sought the help
of security agencies in forestalling
a re-occurrence of the ugly
incidence.
He, however, called on all political
parties to reign in their members
and supporters against violence
adding that if this is done, there
would be an end to political
violence in the land.
“We in the PDP are committed to
having a free and peaceful election.
But we call on other political
parties to rein in their members.
There will be no such thing as
violence if this is done. We want
people to know that the coming
elections will be free and
peaceful.”
Responding to the allegation from
his APC counterpart, Metuh said,
“The opposition in the last couple
of years has been full of frivolous
allegations. We are keeping it free.
The people know who is violent
and who is not.”