Pandemonium broke out yesterday at the Seme border area of Badagry, Lagos State, when an item suspected to be a bomb was discovered in a black nylon at a bus station close to the immigration point.
The item was found at about 4.00am by a police inspector.
Those, who were around at the time of the discovery took to their heels for fear that they might likely be blown up by the suspected explosive device.
Following the alarm that was raised, police bomb disposal officer in charge of Seme border, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), Humphrey Ogedengbe was alerted by the police inspector.
Police preliminary examination revealed that the items contained in the bag were a wall clock with two batteries, and positive and negative wires, attached to it as well as iron suspected to be fuel pump unrapped to look like a bomb.
Daily Sun learnt that the police bomb unit would hold a major meeting with all the security agencies, including Customs, Immigration, State Security Service and the police operating at the border.
It was gathered that some early morning travellers to and from Republic of Benin abandoned their vehicles and goods, and scampered for safety when the news of suspected bomb was broken.
Also, residents of the area took to their heels when the news reached them while passengers in nearby motor parks shelved their trip.
However, the Commissioner of Police in charge of Anti-Bomb Unit, Ambrose Aisabor, described the discovery as a hoax by mischief-makers who did not want peace in the country.
Aisabor said the object found in a black polythene bag was made up of a wall clock, batteries and some wires designed to look as explosive device.
He said his men tested the object only to find out that it was a hoax designed by mischief-makers to cause unnecessary panic.
He advised members of the public to go about their normal businesses as the force was on the ground and would rise to any eventuality.
Meanwhile, Islamist religious extremists, Boko Haram sect has spread its tentacles to Cameroun, Nigeria’s neighbour to the east, giving rise to panic among the populace.
According to a Cameroun-based religious journal, Ecumenical News International, ENInews religious authorities in the country had warned their people against accepting the teachings of Boko Haram that was responsible for killing of about 450 people in Nigeria in 2011.
In the latest incident, four policemen were shot dead on February 23 in the northern Nigerian towns of Kano and Minna, where the people were now gripped by fear of incessant attacks by the violent group.
The President of the Cameroun Association of Imams, Sheik Ibrahim Mbombo Mubarak said he was concerned that some Moslem leaders had welcomed the ‘hate doctrine’ and had allowed Boko Haram faithful to preach in their mosques.
“The number-one and number-three strongmen of the sect, Mohamed Nour and Mohamed Kahirou are from Cameroun … So they came back when they were chased from Nigeria and have been spreading their recorded messages and ideology,” he said during a meeting with administrative authorities in Douala, Cameroun’s commercial centre. He said he believes regulation of religious groups might be an answer.
“Religions are practiced without any authorization and that’s how these extremist movements are gaining ground in Cameroun,” Mubarak said.
Regulating the sector would have made it difficult for such hate groups to establish themselves in a country that prides itself on maintaining long periods of peace, he explained. Camerounian state radio reported that the Lamido of Garoua, a Moslem leader, exhorted the faithful to “stick to the basics of Islam … We understand our Islam and we don’t heed those who think they understand this religion better than us.”
In a similar warning note, the Archbishop of Douala, Msgr. Samuel Kleda, said during an ecumenical service for peace in Cameroun that the Boko Haram doctrine is “anti-social … it is against the abiding love of our saviour,” according to a local weekly newspaper, Timescape Journal.
Camerounian scholar Gilbert L. Taguem Fah, writing in a recent book about new Islamic dynamics in the country, said that there is a danger Boko Haram could spread its “extremist, intolerant and violent ideology” to cities as far south as Douala, which he said is an important centre of Islamic expansion.
Political leaders have said they are concerned that poverty in Cameroun, where 40 per cent of the population lives on less than one dollar per day, could make Boko Haram attractive to many people, especially in the north.
A visit to Lagdo, in Cameroun’s far north, revealed that villagers have seen people with long beads and red or black headscarves (outfits that Boko Haram followers wear), in the area.
“They came here and told me that all our problems are caused by Western education and Western ideas,” a resident of Lagdo, Oumarou Djam, told ENInews, casting a furtive glance around.
“They also said they will give me a lot of money if I joined their group. They looked dangerous, so I lied that I would consider their proposal. I am afraid that they may come again,” he said.
