Gunmen Attack Kogi Communities, Kill Policeman And Three Others.
Four persons have been killed, including a policeman following an explosion in the Okene area of Kogi State.
Hotmedia.ng gathered that the incident happened on Thursday morning at the Oyinoyi’s Palace in Okenne Local Government Area of the state.
Explosion rocked the palace of the paramount ruler of Ebiraland, The Ohinoyi, Dr Ado Ibrahim.
This is coming few hours to the arrival of President Muhammadu Buhari to commission some projects in the North-Central state.
As at the time of filing this report, police operatives of the Anti-Bomb Unit were at the scene of the incident.
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It is however not clear if the explosion was as a result of a bomb being detonated or a target attack at the President.
The explosion caused panic among residents as many scampered for safety.
An explosion has rocked the ancient city of Okene, the headquarters of Kogi Central Senatorial district, the home town of Governor Yahaya Bello.
The explosion at the governor’s home town occurred a few hours before the expected historic visit of President Muhammadu Buhari to Kogi State today.
Controversy has however trailed the explosion. While some persons attributed it to a bomb blast, others said it was a transformer blast.
However, three persons have been reportedly killed in the explosion that happened just a few meters from the Ohinoyi’s palace at Kuroko Street in Okene.
The governor had been in Okene since yesterday waiting for the first visit of the president to the state since he took over power on January 27, 2016.
President Buhari was expected to first touch down in the same Okene where he was scheduled to hold a town hall meeting, and commission some projects in the Senatorial district before he moved to Lokoja, the state capital to continue the commissioning of other laudable projects
An eyewitness told our correspondent that a car with explosives was driven into the palace, exploding some minutes after and ripping through the palace.
The source said the identity of the driver could not yet be ascertained.
Hotmedia.ng could not immediately confirm if a bomb caused the explosion. The police did not reply to our correspondent inquiry regarding the incident.
Although, as Hotmedia.ng could not independently ascertain the circumstances surrounding the bomb blast, sources claimed that it might be connected with the refusal of the monarch to accept the new palace reportedly built for him by Governor Yahaya Bello.
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According to one of the sources, “President Muhammadu Buhari is visiting Kogi State today and there is a part of the story that Governor Yahaya Bello built a palace for the king but the king refused to move into the palace because he claims that his palace is better than the one built by the governor.
“The king was supposed to have moved to the place before today that Buhari would visit the state but he did not move in. So people are speculating that the explosion could have deliberately been triggered in his palace to force him to move to the new palace built by Governor Yahaya Bello.”
