A day after bombs exploded at a rally orgainsed by the Peoples Democratic Party, at Suleja, Niger State, a 32-year-old man, Mr. Zakaryawo Garuba, has been arrested with a black nylon bag containing two metallic objects suspected to be bombs.
While the bombs exploded on Thursday, killing 13 persons and injuring 21 others, officials of the Nigerian Drug Law Enforcement Agency arrested Garuba on Friday at about 11.30am.
The area where he was apprehended had further landed Garuba, who claimed to be a businessman in Kaduna, in troubled waters. He was rounded up at Sabon Wuse, Madala, not far from the venue of the blasts.
The Kano State-born Garuba boarded a 14-seater Toyota bus with registration number XE 674 RBC at Lambata area of Suleja heading for Kano along with other passengers consisting mainly of nursing mothers and children. Officials of the anti-drug agency were on a patrol searching for illegal drug traffickers.
“This time we did not find illegal drugs, we found something deadlier than drugs,” the Niger State Commander, NDLEA, Alhaji Abdullahi Abdul, said.
The commander told PUNCH METRO that the officials, who were on “motorised patrol” flagged down the vehicle. Using a profiling technique, he said that three passengers were ordered to disembark from the bus with their belongings for a search.
That was when Garuba’s journey into police custody as a suspected bomber started. Though he alighted from the bus alongside others, Abdul said he wanted to conceal the nylon bag at the back of his seat. The NDLEA commander said while the operatives insisted on knowing the contents of the bag, Garuba refused to bring it, claiming the bag was not his own.
Not discouraged by his claims, the operatives went for the bag. “My men discovered that the bag was very heavy. They opened it and found wrapped items and a small battery. They unveiled the items and discovered two metallic objects suspected to be explosives,” Abdul narrated.
He, however, said that Garuba denied ownership of the bag and its contents. Officials of the agency seized the bus and all the passengers were brought to the headquarters of the agency in Minna, the state capital, for further investigation.
The commander said he contacted the police and informed them of the development. All the passengers including the suspect were kept in the custody of the agency till Saturday, the next day.
But Garuba told PUNCH METRO that he was just a businessman who deals in blouses. But he claimed that while the battery was his, he knew nothing about the suspected explosives.
“I am just a businessman based in Kaduna. I am not the owner of the bag,” he said.
However, the conductor of the bus, who identified himself simply as Kabiru, faulted Garuba‘s claims. “He boarded this bus with that nylon bag. It belongs to him. We all saw him enter this bus with it,” he said.
Also, the driver of the bus, Mr. Shafiu Sani, alleged that when Garuba was asked by the NDLEA officials to alight for a search, he attempted hiding the bag. “I picked him at Madala Junction. He boarded my bus with the black nylon bag. During investigation by the NDLEA, he tried to hide the bag,” he said.
But Abdul handed over the suspect, the suspected explosives and other passengers in the vehicle to the police at about 11.30am on Saturday.
Armed police officers, members of the State Security Service and officials of the bomb disposal unit were at the headquarters to witness the handover.
A senior police officer, who refused to mention his name, said the bomb experts would examine the suspected explosives, screen other passengers and report their findings.
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ajanni
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