Police confirm bomb explosion in Port Harcourt

The Police in Rivers State, Nigeria’s South-south, said there was an explosion in a popular market in Port Harcourt on Monday morning.

The market has been identified as Mile 3 Market in the city.

“A locally fabricated dynamite exploded when one Mrs Ifemia Aloke, popularly known as ‘mama Joy’ opened her fish shop, inflicting injuries on her son and one other young lady who are currently receiving medical attention.

“No life was lost in the incident,” the police spokesperson in the state, Nnamdi Omoni, said in a statement on Monday.

Mr Omoni, a superintendent of police, said police officers from the Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) were immediately dispatched to the scene to sweep and render the market safe.

Normal trading activities resumed immediately in the market, Mr Omoni said.

“In the meantime, the Commissioner of Police, Eboka Friday, has ordered a full-scale investigation into the incident with a view to ascertaining the cause of the explosion and bringing the perpetrators to justice.

“He wishes to reassure the good people of the State that the State is generally calm and they should go about their lawful activities uninterrupted and without fear of molestation from any quarters,” the police spokesperson said.

It is unclear if the explosion has any link with the sit-at-home order by IPOB, a pro-Biafra group.

The order has been largely complied with by residents of the Southeast region.

The IPOB’s order has not been infective in Rivers, despite the group’s claim that the oil-rich state is part of the “Biafran territory”.