Five days after a dynamite explosion near the Presidential Hotel of Aba Road in Port Harcourt, Rivers State the prime suspect is still hospitalised under heavy security watch at the Rivers State University Teaching Hospital.
The dynamite explosion happened last Tuesday seriously injuring the carrier allegedly during a protest by some persons over the tenure of the local government chairmen in the state.
The State Commissioner for Health, Dr Adaeze Oreh, had on Tuesday night during a news briefing, alerted hospitals in the state to look out for any patient with ‘traumatically dismembered upper limb’. and to immediately alert the government.
On Wednesday morning, the health commission said a patient with the described injury reported at the Rivers State University Teaching Hospital and had been held.
She said the patient was brought unconscious to the hospital by his friends, who claimed he was involved in a road accident, but the doctors, on examining the injuries, “immediately recognised that the injuries seen on this individual were not in tandem with a road traffic accident, but rather resemble injuries that would have come from a blast.”
Our reporter, who visited the hospital on Sunday afternoon, observed a huge security presence in and around the hospital premises.
A police patrol van was stationed at the Moscow Road junction leading to the hospital, while another patrol van was stationed inside the facility just after the main entrance.
Also, near the emergency ward, another patrol van was spotted, making three police vans, all manned by armed policemen.
Although there was no restriction on movements in and out of the hospital, the operatives kept a watchful eye on the movements of visitors within the facility and the perimeter.
The policemen were also spotted manning strategic locations in various units of the hospital where they had been keeping vigil since last Wednesday when the suspect was discovered in the facility.
When contacted, the spokesperson for the Rivers State Police Command, Grace Iringe-Koko, confirmed the security beef-up due to the hospitalised suspect, adding that investigation was ongoing.
Last Friday, the police in a statement, said, “The command has launched a comprehensive investigation to ascertain the cause and circumstances surrounding this unfortunate event, with a view to ensuring the safety and security of all residents and visitors in Rivers State.
“The command would like to express its gratitude to members of the public who have provided information, pictures, and videos to assist the police investigation.
“The Commissioner of Police advises that anyone who sees a suspicious object should evacuate the area immediately and notify the police without delay.
“Every effort is being made to gather all pertinent information and bring clarity to this situation. Further updates on our findings will be provided as the investigation progresses.”
Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara said the suspected bomber was sponsored by the opposition in order to justify their call for a state of emergency in Rivers State amid the face-off between him (Fubara) and his estranged political godfather, Nyesom Wike.
Fubara said the opposition particularly picked Hotel Presidential in Port Harcourt as the spot to detonate the dynamite because they knew that some federal lawmakers who visited the state lodged in the hotel.
He said, “In fact, there was a plan to detonate a dynamite at the Hotel Presidential because you people (federal lawmakers) were there. But this God that we serve, it happened that the man who was trying to do it, detonated it but just a few seconds after, it blew his hands off.
“The idea was that as you (federal lawmakers) were hearing the state of emergency, it will be so that by the time they finish, when you (lawmakers) return to have your sitting tomorrow (Thursday), the debate will be from somebody from this state who called you people to tell you not to come.
“He will now raise the issue of state of emergency, and say, after all, distinguished colleagues saw it happen while you were in Rivers State; that you saw what happened.
“But you see, when you are with God, even your own child who is planning evil will go and tell somebody that God is with this man because he is clean, this is what my father is planning. That is what is keeping us in this state.”