President Goodluck Jonathan has visited the scene of Abuja bomb explosion that left dozens dead in the early hours of Monday.
This is even as the Nigeria Police authorities have officially confirmed 71 dead and 124 people injured in the blast that occurred at a motor park in Nyanyan, a suburb of the Capital City, Abuja.
President Jonathan was accompanied to scene of the explosion for an on-the-spot assessment by Senate President David Mark, PDP Chairman, Adamu Mu’azu; the Minister of Interior, Abba Moro; the National Security Adviser, Col Sambo Dasuki; Chief of Defence Staff, Air Marshall Alex Badeh; the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar and other top government functionaries.
Speaking before leaving for the national Hospital, President Jonathan said, “You can see that I’m here with the Senate President, David Mark and Chairman of PDP, Ministers, CDS and service chiefs, and all other very senior government functionaries.
“I am also commending security services for their prompt action. Though we lost quiet a number of people, we condole with our countrymen and women. We will continue to work very hard.
“The issue of Boko Haram is temporary. Government is doing everything to make sure that we move our country forward in spite of all the distractions that want to take us backward.
“We promise that we will get over it.
“We also want to use this unique opportunity to plead with the media and our great men and women, to come up with enlightenment programme for our people. Those countries that face terror they have developed great awareness.
“If there are unusual movement of vehicles and bags, they called security and base on this a lot of incidences are contained.
“So, we believe that if people will become observant and all of us become security conscious by the movement of people, we will be able to reduce some of these incidences.
“We will do our best, the security services will continue to work very hard, God willing we will get over it. The issue of Boko Haram is temporary surely we will get over it”.
The explosion occurred around 6.45 am as commuters were boarding vehicles to go to work. No fewer than 100 people have been feared dead and several others sustained various degrees of injuries.
An official of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), John Ahwen, confirmed that the bomb that was placed on the ground, exploded as commuters going to work were boarding the high capacity buses popularly called ‘El-Rufai’.
According to him, about eight emergency service vehicles were involved in evacuating dead bodies to the Asokoro General Hospital and National Hospital while no fewer than 30 vehicles were burnt down.
The President who was still in shock over the bomb explosion had earlier cancelled his scheduled visit to Ibadan.
He has also visited the National Hospital, Abuja to see the injured victims.
