The Police in Adamawa State have averted what could have been a massive bomb attack as operatives defused 19 high-caliber Improvised Explosive Device (IEDs) buried in a bush near Yola, the state capital.
The IEDs could have destroyed a 10-storey building and could wreak havoc within a 200 meter radius, the state police chief, Adaji Gabriel, said Friday.
Adamawa is one of the north eastern states worst affected by Boko Haram insurgents.
The police boss, Mr. Gabriel, said his officers foiled the attack following a tip-off that Boko Haram terrorists were planning an attack on the state capital ahead of this month’s general polls.
He said the police discovered 19 high-calibre bombs buried in bush a few kilometres to the state capital.
‘’Police informants took our men to a bush in around Song Local Government where the hidden bomb
materials were unravelled,” he said. “They wanted to launch an attack in the state capital.”
‘’They wanted to bomb the main bridge linking the state capital with the northern parts of the state.
‘’The IEDs are almost 90 per cent completed and only need to be connected to batteries to work, which may have been the worst hit in the North and the nation at large if it was not detected.
‘’We thank God for answering our prayers in Adamawa State. The discovery has prevented something that would have caused a hell of sorrows to the state.
‘’One of the bombs is capable of bringing down a 10 storey building. They aimed to destroy Jimeta in the state capital,” he said.
The police chief said if the militants had succeeded, “the state would have been brought down as they wanted to blow up vital and strategic structures including the more than one kilometer River Benue Bridge linking the state capital with northern parts of the state”.
“The smallest among the bombs can completely destroy structures within 200 meter radius and on the verge of being transported to various parts of the state capital before they were discovered,’’ the police boss has said.
In the meantime, the detected bombs have been defused by the anti-bomb squad of the state police command, although the police commissioner said that no arrest has been made in connection to the incident.
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