•One of the victims, a 12-year-old boy at the National Hospital…yesterday
The media yesterday got a taste of the violence in some parts of Nigeria. Eight people died and 14 others were injured in a suicide bomb explosion at THISDAY office in Abuja and Kaduna where a building housing the newspaper as well as The Sun and Moments was attacked.
In the accident, three people died and two were injured. A suspect was arrested.
The bomber was among the casualties of the Kaduna incident.
The bombing also destroyed 10 vehicles and left the Press Hall badly damaged.
The once beautiful edifice became a shadow of itself - shattered windows, broken walls and shredded copies of part of today’s edition.
The imposing gate leading to the devastated Press Hall that houses the company’s Goss Community printing machine was destroyed.
The staff gate was severely damaged and partly burnt. The generator beside the gate was burnt. A part of the fence by the gate collapsed, felling a tree.
The wreckage of the suicide bomb vehicle was buried inside the devastated Press Hall. Policemen and aid workers were battling to retrieve it.
The newsroom was in tatters – upturned tables, smashed seats and crushed computers.
All the glasses in the building, including doors, were shattered. Parts of the roof were blown off with no ceiling left hanging.
The premises was strewn with pieces of shrapnel from the bomb laden vehicle and broken glasses.
A crater, which must have resulted from the impact of the blast, was seen about two meters from where the SUV was lodged. Parts of the wall of the building from where the car entered the premises caved in.
The huge loss drew tears from many workers and sympathisers. For about six hours, business was brought to a halt at Jabi Motor Park , the bustling transit station opposite the THISDAY office.
Islamist sect Boko Haram last night claimed respionsibility for the bombings. It threatened to target other journalists.
In a statement published by the Premium Times website, a spokesman for Boko Haram said the sect would attack media again over what the group felt was inaccurate coverage.
The sect is blamed for killing more than 440 people this year alone in its growing sectarian fight against the government.
“This is a war between us and the government of Nigeria,” the website quoted a sect spokesman as saying. “Unfortunately the media have not been objective and fair in their report of the ongoing war. They chose to take sides.”
A journalist with long-standing ties to the sect told the AP that the statement came from the group. The journalist spoke on condition of anonymity over concerns about his safety.
The sect’s spokesman particularly blamed ThisDay for publishing stories the group found inaccurate.
A probe of the incident has started, with two foreign bomb experts visiting the scene in an unmarked Ford Expedition Sport Utility Vehicle.
Some samples of the wreckage were retrieved for forensic analysis.
A source spoke of how the lone suicide bomber, who drove an SUV, entered the premises in Jabi District through the back gate (a.ka. Staff Gate).
There were indications that the suicide bomber pretended to have come for business transactions to beat the security guards on duty.
None of the two security guards, who opened the gate for him, lived to tell the story.
But as soon as the bomber passed through the brick wall, he stepped on the accelerator, sending the vehicle into a furious race and ramming into the Press Hall.
There was an explosion, the impact of which shattered the newsroom and shook all the adjoining buildings, including a four-storey structure under construction and a shopping complex.
An official of the newspaper, who pleaded for anonymity said: “The black SUV was allowed entry, unsuspectingly and suddenly it accelerated towards the Press Hall, instead of going to the parking lot.
“I was going towards the Press Hall when suddenly I heard a loud explosion, which made me to stagger here and there.
“Before I could regain consciousness, the Press Hall was already in flame and about 10 vehicles parked within the premises had been damaged.”
Another eye-witness, Mr. Bulus Momoh, who was in transit from Adamawa to Abuja , said no one opened the gate for the SUV.
He said: “When I was coming to deposit my money into a micro-finance bank, I saw a black jeep parked beside the THISDAY office.
“My instinct was telling me that something was about to happen. So, as I stepped into the bank and came out, I saw the jeep rushing in, though the gate was locked; he used speed to get inside by force before it exploded. Then we began to call people around.”
The Deputy Head of Disaster Management, Nigerian Red Cross, National Headquarters, Mr. Adeyemo Andronicus, said: “We have taken stock of the situation. I can confirm to you that four people died, including the suicide bomber, and seven were injured.
“Two minutes after the blast, we received a distress call at our national headquarters. So, we moved in and Red Cross deployed its official team down here. We picked the four dead persons, including the suicide bomber himself. He rammed into the complex with a vehicle.
“From the way we retrieved the body of the suicide bomber, he was about escaping from the door when the bomb went off.
“Another dead person at the entrance, then the third person at the newspaper house junk area, the fourth person at the back. Then, one person got injured. All the bodies have been taken to the National Hospital.
“You can see about 10 vehicles were damaged. The adjacent buildings surrounding THISDAY were also affected.”
Chairman of THISDAY Editorial Board Mr. Olusegun Adeniyi said: “Two hours ago and two of the security men died. The suicide bomber, of course, died and then five of our support staff were injured. They have been taken to the hospital.
“You can see that the front gate has been locked. The gate at the back was also locked and security men were there. The suicide bomber came in a jeep. They opened for him, but we cannot find out why they opened the gate for him now because they are dead. The guy entered with the vehicle, then rammed the vehicle into the building and it exploded.
“This is a newspaper house, we’d just printed and there were a lot of support staff and advert executives in the newsroom.
“Fortunately, the newsroom is a bit far from the back. So, all the people that were in the newsroom, especially the advert people, were safe.”
Asked if the newspaper got any security report on a likely attack on its premises, Adeniyi said: “I don’t know about security report. I mean we are all in the media, we know there are threats against the media generally. There are some instances of warnings, but I think we will get into all that later.
“I don’t believe in speculations. The security men are here, they will get to the root of the matter. It has been confirmed that there is an attack on our office in Kaduna .”
The FCT Commissioner of Police, Mr. Aderenle Shinaba , said: “It is too early to tell you the exact number of casualty now, but all I can tell you is that our main purpose of being here is to save lives and be on a rescue mission and that we have been able to do.
“I want to say that there are some injured people that have been taken to hospitals and that is the much I can say as regards the casualty.
“In a situation like this, all you need do first is not to count the number of people that are injured; it is to take the injured to the hospital to save their lives first and that is what we have done.
“At the end of the day, once we have stabilised this place, we will be able to go and get the exact number of casualties. We have our men in the hospitals and they said the ones they have taken to the hospitals are being attended to and they are responding to treatment.
“If I tell you the number I have, I don’t know the number other sister agencies have. So, I am not in a position to give something that you will come to discover that it is not correct.”
The Acting Sector Commandant, Federal Capital Territory , Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Mr. Ajayi Michael, said: “It’s unfortunate that it has happened but we are trying to see that people who are rescued are taken to the hospital and those who have passed away taken to the morgue so that people do not further get into injury.
“We are still working because we can not just give out a number now.”
The Managing Director of Save Life Foundation, Dr. Adesola Fernadez, who spoke with reporters, said the casualty figure was higher than given.
As at press time, FCT Police Commissioner, the FCT Director of SSS, Mr. Joseph Okojie, and top security officers were co-ordinating investigation into the incident.
At about 1.15pm, one of the two foreign experts inspected the scene of the blast before going back to the SUV.
The two experts later invited the FCT Police Commissioner into the SUV.
Barely a few hours after the blast, many eminent Nigerians and media chiefs visited the scene.
Early callers at THISDAY office were former FCT Minister Mallam Nasir el-Rufai; ex-Ogun Governor Gbenga Daniel; Media Trust Limited, Managing Director Mr. Isiaq Ajibola; LEADERSHIP Newspaper Group Managing Director Azubuike Ishiekwene; Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) National President, Mohammed Garba and FCT Minister Bala Mohammed.
Garba said: “I think I am here basically to sympathise with my colleagues. It is really unfortunate that such incident is happening to the media.
“This has further confirmed our fear that journalists are not safe; media houses are not safe. There is need for the security agencies to be more proactive.
“The owners of the media must intensify security in their premises. Our members, as journalists, must also be security conscious.
“The Nigeria Union of Journalists is assessing the situation and at the end of it all, we are going to address a press conference and then our position will be known.
“It is the same incident in Kaduna, which affected about three media houses. I have asked the chairman of the Kaduna State council of the NUJ to write a formal report to the NUJ secretariat. With what happened today in THISDAY and what happened in Kaduna, the NUJ will analyse the situation and come out with our position very early tomorrow morning.”
el- Rufai said: “It is quite unfortunate. May the souls of those affected rest in peace.”
Daniel said: “I have seen what happened. It is regrettable and the only thing we can do is to plead with the people behind this action, for the sake of our country. Now that a media house is being torched, it has even greater consequences.”
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