AN EXPLOSION reportedly caused by dynamite carried in a passenger minibus killed the driver and wounded two others in Port Harcourt on Thursday on morning.
The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) in a statement by its spokesman Yushau Shuaibu, confirmed the incident saying, “NEMA confirms an explosion today in a commercial bus at Rumuokoro roundabout in Port Harcourt.”
“The driver died from the explosion. The situation is under control.”
Speaking on the situation, the governor of Rivers State, Rotimi Amaechi, said “It was a minor incident of suspected robbers who put some dynamite and weapons inside a bus.”
Amaechi said it appeared the suspected robbers were using the bus for transporting explosives, when the explosion happened accidentally. “It was not a bomb attack,” he said.
“It was a dynamite explosion inside a bus by suspected armed robbers who usually use dynamite to rob banks.”
A military spokesman had earlier said the explosion occurred at a bus station in the Rumuokoro area of the city around 10.30am. He said there was no reason to suspect the blast was linked to the militant group Boko Haram.
Two persons are believed to have died in the explosion.
The bus, painted in Rivers State commercial transport colours, reportedly broke down and was being pushed off the road when it exploded. The driver and a passerby reportedly died while three persons were injured.
The bus was also totally wrecked by the blast, which shook nearby buildings. Rivers State Commissioner of Police, Mohammed Indabawa, confirmed the development, saying two people died in the blast.
Rivers State Police Commissioner Mohammed Abdulkadir also confirmed that four AK-47 assault rifles and a large cache of ammunition were recovered at the site of the incident.