April 25, (THEWILL) – At least one person has been killed and seven others injured in an explosion in Gashua, Yobe State.
The explosion, according to sources, happened on Sunday night at a local drinking joint at Abasha ward in Gashua, the headquarters of Bade Local Government Council of the state.
Gashua is located 187 kilometres away from Damaturu, the state capital and is the hometown of Senate President, Ahmed Lawan.
The Chairman of Bade Local Government Area, Sanda Karabade, said three injured males and four females were receiving medical attention at Specialist Hospital in Gashua.
Spokesperson of the State Police Command, ASP Dungus Abdulkareem, confirmed the incident.
He said, “It looks like a coordinated attack targeted at a drinking joint. Our EOD detectives are at the scene to find out what type of explosion and the cause of the explosion.
“There is one person that is confirmed dead, with seven others as casualties. More details will come up after the investigation”, Dungus noted. Abdulkareem, the Yobe Police Spokesman, who confirmed the incident, said “seven people were injured and one person was killed in the attack.”
The injured persons, he said, were admitted at General Hospital Gashua.
But the Spokesman of Sector 2 Operation Hadin Kai, Lt. Kennedy Anyanwu, said preliminary investigation revealed that the explosion was caused by a cooking gas.
“Our men on ground have told us that the preliminary investigation shows that it’s a cooking gas that caused the explosion.
“Due to the current heat being experienced in the state, the possibility of a gas explosion is high, especially if it’s not well attended to. It’s not a Boko Haram attack”, he said.
He also noted Gashua is calm and people are moving about their normal businesses without fear.
The latest incident came a few days after Boko Haram last Wednesday, slaughtered about 12 persons in Geidam town in another drinking joint.
Geidam, which is the hometown of Inspector General of Police, Usman Alkali-Baba, is located 177 kilometres away from Damaturu, the state capital. It shares border with Niger Republic and Damasak, which is believed to be one of the strongholds of the terrorists in Borno state.
