The Nigerian Police on Monday afternoon confirmed that at least 71 people died in the early morning bomb explosion that rocked the Nyanya motor park in the outskirts of Abuja.
The police spokesperson, Frank Mba, who confirmed this to journalists in Abuja said that “So far, we have a total of 71 persons dead and 124 others injured and they are all, receiving treatments at various hospitals in and around FCT metropolis.”
However, independent estimates by witnesses and body count by our correspondent at the scene indicate the casualty figure may go up as about 200 people are believed to have died from the blast.
Mba disclosed that those injured are currently receiving treatment at various hospitals around the Nigerian capital and said that a total 16 luxurious buses were torched, while 24 others mainly belonging to individuals suffered damages in the blast.
He disclosed that security agencies were working with hospitals to create information centers for relatives to assist them in getting information on their loved ones.
“We promised you earlier on that we will continue to update you and it in that spirit that I want to update you as regards the casualty figures.
“In order to help families of the bereaved, the security agencies are working with hospitals encouraging most of the hospitals to open information centers that will help relatives, friends to get relevant information from those hospitals where the dead bodies are deposited and others receiving treatments,” he said.
Meanwhile, President Goodluck Jonathan during his visit to the scene of the blast and the hospital appealed to the media to assist government in enlightening the public on security consciousness.
Jonathan who was close to tears as he spoke at the blast site harped on the need for extra vigilance and for people to report suspicious movements in any part of the country to security agencies.
“You can see that I am here with Senate President, Senator David Mark and the Chairman of PDP, Chief of Defence, service chiefs, National Security Adviser, and that the security agencies are also doing their best to handle the situation,” Jonathan said.
“Let us first express our collective condolence to the family of those who lost their lives and also commend the security agencies for their quick response.
“It is not the number, let me appeal to our country men and women, for them to continue to work, very hard on this issue of Boko Haram,” he added.
The president said government will do everything necessary to ensure that the country moves forward despite the activities of those who preferred to move the country backwards.
“We shall get over it. We want to appeal to our media to begin to come up with enlightenment programme for our people, to make citizens very aware of suspicious movement so that they can be reported promptly to security agencies,” he said.
“Let us become more observant and monitor the movement of people so that we can reduce. We will do our best, the security agencies will continue to work hard to ensure that we get over this issue of Boko Haram.”
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