A suspected bomb explosion rocked an area close to the Mogadishu Cantonment, popularly known as Mogadishu Barracks, in Abuja on Monday, leaving one person dead and another injured.
According to AIT.live, an eyewitness who is a military personnel but declined to give his name, said the deceased is believed to be a suicide bomber who died when an explosive device concealed in a rubber canister detonated near the barracks.
“It looked like he was trying to carry or plant the explosive when it went off,” the witness told AIT.live. “It was a rubber can he was holding, and it exploded right there.”
However, authorities at the scene have downplayed the likelihood of a traditional improvised explosive device (IED), suggesting instead that the blast may have been triggered by a mobile phone-related explosion.
“The situation is being assessed. It might not be an IED as suspected, but something related to a phone-triggered device,” a senior military officer present at the scene told reporters.
Security operatives from the Nigerian Army, Department of State Services (DSS), Nigeria Police Force, and officials from the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) quickly responded and cordoned off the area.
As of the time of this report, emergency responders were still taking inventory and securing the scene. Media personnel were barred from taking photographs or recording video footage, further fueling public speculation.
