MILITARY NOT RATTLED BY BLAST – MINISTER

The Minister of Defence, Mr Adetokunbo Kayode, has said the bomb blast on New Year's eve at the Mogadishu Cantonment mammy market in Abuja posed a fresh security challenge to the country but that the Nigerian armed forces was capable of tackling the new wave of terrorism in the country.

Kayode, who spoke when he visited the scene of the blast as well as victims at the hospital yesterday in Abuja, maintained that the explosions were not meant to spite the military because the mammy market, where the blast occurred, is generally a public place where members of the public interact with the military to enhance military/community relationship.

He said this might be the reason over 95 per cent of those affected in the blast were civilians, who are now receiving treatment at various hospitals, including military hospitals across Abuja.

While assuring that the federal government was on top of the security situation, the minister said the actual number of persons that died in the Abuja blast was four - three males and one female.

He also said the number of injured were 26 and that 11 were in serious condition and receiving treatment at various government hospitals in Abuja.

Mr Kayode, who was visibly angry and could not hide his emotion after seeing the blast survivors in hospital, among them a pregnant woman and some children, expressed gratitude to God that some of the victims were in stable medical condition. He assured that the government would get to the bottom of the matter and bring those behind the dastardly act to book.