Tragedy Averted As Police Defuse IEDs At Owerri Eatery

Tragedy was averted in Owerri, the Imo State capital, when items suspected to be Improvised Explosive Device (IED) was defused by men of the Imo State Police command.

The substance was reported to have been carefully concealed in two strategic places within the lobby of a popular eatery around Ikenegbu, a commercial area within the city.

The Imo State Commissioner of Police, Abdulmajid Ali, disclosed that a distress call was placed across to the command around 9:30pm on Wednesday night by the Manager of the eatery, informing the Police about a substance suspected to be an explosive device within the lobby of the eatery.

He drafted the bomb squad of the Imo State Police Command to the scene and after several hours of battling with the substance, it was confirmed to be an Improvised Explosive Device capable of causing serious danger to lives and property and was defused immediately.

He said that one of the IED was carefully concealed beside the air conditioner in the lobby of the eatery and the other placed somewhere on the air conditioner outside the eatery.

While calling on Imo citizens to continue to cooperate with the Nigerian Police by furnishing them with adequate information, he assured the people of the state that the Police would continue to ensure proper protection of lives and property, especially during the festive period, as all measures have been put in place to combat any form of crime in the state.

He confirmed that no arrest had been made but investigations were ongoing.

It was the second time that the Imo State Police Command would defuse IEDs within the Owerri metropolis in 2014.

Credit: Channels TV