By Etuka Sunday
There was pandemonium yesterday in Gombe state after a loud explosion misconstrued to be bomb blast was heard in front of Gombe Ibrahim
Hassan Dankwambo’s private residence within the GRA in the town.
Two soldiers were confirmed killed in the incident which was said to have occurred at about 6pm, after the shells in an armoured tank stationed in front of the governor’s residence exploded.
The armoured tank, sources said, was suspected to have exploded following the heat wave that had hit it.
The Senior Special Assistant (SSA) on Media to the Gombe state governor, Malam Mansur Lawal, while confirming the incident sad six other persons, made up of security agents and civilians were wounded in the incident.
He said some of the wounded “have already been treated and discharged” from the hospital where they were treated.
Governor Dankwambo’s spokesman however clarified that “it was absolutely true”, the claim in an online media report yesterday that the Gombe Government House had been bombed.
Lawal said the situation has been brought under control and that the state is as peaceful as it has always been.
Meanwhile, our reporter learnt that many residents who heard the explosion scampered for safety, perhaps because of the massiveness of the sound.
A resident, Malam Baba Kumo, who said he was already at home by the time the tank exploded, confirmed that many residents took to their heels believing that it was only bomb blast that could be heard all over the city the way the explosion was heard.
Another resident, Muhammad Amin, who said he too was not too sure of what had happened because it was already getting dark when the incident happened, confirmed that many residents of Gombe town initially concluded that it was a bomb attack on the governor’s residence.
He said residents in the neighbourhood of the governor’s house who had scampered to their houses, told him that only men of the Nigeria
Police, fire service operatives and military officials were sighted at the scene, battling to put out the fire that resulted from the incident.
