Many injured as Police officer’s son brought explosive to school

The victim of the explosion at the Glory Land High School, Azugwu, in the Ebonyi Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, Chubuike Nwani, on Monday, said his classmate and son of a policeman brought the Improvised Explosive Device to the school.

The 16-year-old victim, a Senior Secondary School II pupil, identified his classmate, who allegedly brought the IED to the school as Mogbo Afan, a son of a mobile policeman posted to the state police command.

The IED had exploded on the school premises last Thursday and shattered Chibuike’s left hand and caused other pupils to sustain varying degrees of injury.

The incident, which occurred around 11am, caused panic in the school and its environs.

Chibuike, who is lying critically ill at the children’s ward of the Alex Ekwueme Federal University Teaching Hospital, Abakaliki, had his left arm amputated following the incident.

Speaking from his hospital bed, the victim said he was not the one who brought the explosive to the school contrary to earlier reports.

He stated that Mogbo, who brought the device to the school, ran away immediately it exploded.

Chibuike said, “This incident happened around 11am. One of my classmates, Mogbo, brought an object that looked like an electric bulb, which had a black cover. He removed the cover and I was inside the classroom while he was on the step very close to our classroom. When he removed the cover of the object, the object fell from his hand and dropped on the floor.

“I rushed to pick it up and throw it away, thinking that it was an ordinary firework, so that it wont explode in the classroom and scare other pupils. So, I picked it up but it exploded in my hand and shattered it. I also sustained leg injuries in the explosion.

“Mogbo’s father is a mobile policeman. When the incident happened, other pupils ran away and I was taken to one of the teachers in our school. They removed my belt and tied it to my hand. My father was contacted and he came and took me to hospital.

“Mogbo ran away immediately the object exploded and till date, he has not been found. His mother and father have been coming to the hospital to see me. They usually cry and plead for forgiveness.”

Chibuike’s father, Chukwu Nwani, a native of Okposi Okwu in the Ohaozara Local Government Area of the state, said he was not happy that his son had lost a hand due to the action of a fellow pupil.

He called for justice in the matter and urged the government to come to his aid to enable him take proper care of his son.

When contacted the state Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Loveth Odah, who had earlier confirmed the incident, said on Monday that she was not aware that the son of a policeman attached to the state command brought the IED to the school.

She stated, “Oh, I am not aware that the son of a policeman brought the object that exploded to the school. We only reported an incident that happened in that school and used it as warning to others to avoid that kind of a thing again, because that boy has lost his left palm and he cannot regain it again as result of the explosion.

“But we don’t know that the son of a policeman was the one who brought the object that exploded to the school. Maybe I will call the ‘C’ Division; let me investigate and know if the person is the son of a policeman.”