One word that nobody wants to hear right now is ‘bomb’.
There was pandemonium at the National Assembly on Tuesday, April 15, 2014 as lawmakers fled over rumours of a bomb scare.
The lawmakers, National Assembly workers and bankers within the premises quickly locked up their offices and fled to safety.
Punch reports:.
The development started around 2pm when some legislative aides and civil servants were seen discussing in groups following an alleged strange movement of some group of people whose mission to the National Assembly was said to be suspicious.
It was learnt the immediate response of the security operatives, whose attention was drawn to the suspicious movement, actually heightened the tension by creating fears in the minds of the workers.
Our correspondent observed that the security agents, comprising the police and the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, were immediately drafted to the major entrances to the sprawling complex frisking both visitors and workers.
At that point the senior officers in the various offices directed their junior officers to lock up their offices and close for the day to avert any possible danger.
The unsual closure of the offices and the rush by the workers to get out of the complex further heightened tension and confusion pandemonium among the workers of banks and other private establishment who also hurriedly locked up their doors against customers.
Some of the workers, who spoke with our correspondent, said their bosses directed them to close and go home.
Reacting to the development, the Acting Serjeant-at -Arms of the National Assembly, Mr. Ibrahim Ndako, told journalists that there was nothing like bomb scare in the complex and attributed the workers’ panic to mere rumous.
Ndako said, “There is nothing like bomb scare, it is just a rumour. Those banks chose to close because we have assured them that there is nothing like that. It’s just mere rumour.
Meanwhile, the Senate Leader, Victor Ndoma-Egba (SAN), has described Monday bomb blast, which killed scores of people at the Nyanya Motor Park in Abuja, as the work of “mindless” and “godless” people.
Ndoma-Egba, in a personally signed statement in Abuja, charged Nigerians from all walks of life to act as security agents wherever they are, adding that security should not be left to the security agencies alone.
He said, “Violence is the argument of one who’s run out of logic. It’s mindless, senseless, barbaric and it’s a call for every Nigerian to be a stakeholder in the security of this country.
“We’ve gone past the point of leaving our security just to security agencies. We must all now be conscious of our environment, every Nigerian must now be a security agent because these godless people are not spirits; they operate amongst us.”
