The suicide bomber was suspected to be a member of the Boko Haram sect in the state.
Confirming the incident to journalists during a press briefing at the state police headquarters, Maiduguri, the commissioner of police, Borno State Command, Mr. Simeon Midenda, said that sometime last week, his command received a threat text message, that the police cadet officers screening exercise slated for yesterday would be disrupted by a faceless group.
He said the development prompted him to beef up security around the police headquarters and other formations.
Narrating the incident, Midenda explained that at about 12:15pm, the suicide bomber crashed through the gate of the police headquarters in a Honda Accord saloon car with registration number AP 851 ABJ, and headed for the main building with the intention of detonating bombs close to his office.
However, before the bomber could carry out his plan, armed policemen on guard within the premises opened fire on him. He further said, “On reaching the vehicle, our men discovered that the boot was loaded with gas cylinders containing explosives connected with wires ready for detonation.”
The commissioner said that the bomb disposal unit was promptly drafted to the scene, where, he claimed, they successfully incapacitated the improvised explosive devices (IED).
Our correspondent also gathered that items recovered from the car included six13.6kg gas cylinders, each connected with wires; one air conditioner gas cylinder; two 25 litre jerry cans of fuel; one tin of Abro, five-litre volume and one Acid Orange drum of 28kg weight.
The CP said no written documents were recovered, saying that investigations had begun in earnest to unravel those behind the dastardly act.
He also called on the general public to continue to pray for the police so that God would touch the perpetrators of the continued bomb attacks to have a change of heart, so that peace, which had eluded the state, would be restored.
Recall that a suicide bomber, the first in the history of the country, had similarly crashed his way into the force headquarters in Abuja recently, where life and properties were lost, a development that led to criticism of the police by the general public. Read the rest on:
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