NIGERIA: A suspected armed robber is killed when explosives his gang was transporting accidentally goes off in the centre of Nigeria's main oil city of Port Harcourt.

Record ID: 235655

  • Title: NIGERIA: A suspected armed robber is killed when explosives his gang was transporting accidentally goes off in the centre of Nigeria's main oil city of Port Harcourt.
  • Date: 18th May 2012
  • Summary: PORT HARCOURT, NIGERIA (MAY 17, 2012) (REUTERS) CROWD BEING DISPERSED BY POLICE FROM SCENE OF THE BLAST DEBRIS FROM BLOWN UP MINIBUS PERSONNEL ITEMS BELONGING TO THE ROBBERS BLOOD STAIN ON THE ROAD CHIBUIKE AMAECHI, GOVERNOR OF RIVERS STATE, ARRIVING THE SCENE OF BLAST AMAECHI INSPECTING SCENE OF BLAST POLICE BOMB SQUAD TEAM INSPECTING THE SCENE DEBRIS FORM BLASTED MINIBUS (SOUNDBITE) (Nigerian English) KINGSLEY CHUKWU, ROAD SAFETY OFFICIAL, SAYING: "We were chasing them...and chasing them and in less than five minutes here we the blast happened, we saw it was a bomb blast...the driver ran away, the conductor died in the blast because bomb lift him up and we can confirm those who planned this bomb." LIVE BULLETS RECOVERED AT THE SCENE DEBRIS POLICE DISPERSING CROWD AWAY FROM THE SITE RESIDENTS ARGUING, BLAMING THE EXPLOSION ON BOKO HARAM SECT VEHICLES CROWD
  • Embargoed: 2nd June 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Nigeria
  • Country: Nigeria
  • Topics: Crime
  • Reuters ID: LVAD051I6LY882FB6KUWYEXXL7J3
  • Story Text: A suspected armed robber was killed when explosives his gang was transporting accidentally went off in the centre of Nigeria's main oil city of Port Harcourt on Thursday (May 18), police said.
    The blast ripped through a minibus carrying at least three suspected robbers, four AK-47 rifles and a large amount of ammunition.
    Chibuike Amaechi, governor Rivers State who immediately visited the scene told reporters the blast was not the work of a suicide bomber but an accident caused by robbers.
    One eyewitness Kingsley Chuku, an official from the Nigerian Road Safety, said he and a colleague was chasing the minibus for a traffic violation minutes before the explosion.
    "We were chasing them...and chasing them and in less than five minutes the blast happened, we saw it was a bomb blast...the driver ran away, the conductor died in the blast because bomb lift him up and we can confirm those who planned this bomb," he said.
    He added that a man and a woman who were nearby were injured in the explosion.
    Port Harcourt is at the heart of Nigeria's two million plus barrel a day (bpd) oil industry and has been plagued by militant groups and criminal gangs cashing in on the money it generates.
    Police immediately cordoned off the area around the minibus largely burned to its frame.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2012. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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