By John Bulus
Were it not for the timing and ultimately, the Grace of God, Gombe state would have, last week, been thrown into unusual mourning following the explosion that rocked the State owned University. The day was Thursday, April 26, 2012. The time was about 8: 30 pm and the staff and workers at the administrative building of the University had closed and left office when the men of underworld struck.

First, they heralded their signature of gunshot which sent every passer-by running for safety. And then, the explosion came prompting a conflagration that engulfed the entire building. By the time the fire was put off, it has completely razed the house, thus, burning down the Vice Chancellor’s office, the Senate and the Bursary. It was such that every item in those offices was burnt beyond recognition. The roof of the building was blown open as the roofing sheet also burnt.

The incident did not only cause panic among the students who were in their night classes studying for their forthcoming exams, it also prompted many to run for their dear lives in a melee that followed. The luck many got was that the scene of the explosion was a considerable distance from the lecture halls and the University hostels which usually record an influx of human presence both at noonday and night.

*Section affected by the explosion

Hannah, a fleeing female remedial student told this reporter that running home for safety in the company of other students that night was not easy as they took a great risk flagging down a vehicle whose driver they did not know to take them home.

She said that Okada riders who usually converge at the second gate of the institution had all disappeared on the heels of the explosion. It was the second gate that saved lives as no one would have dared the main- gate which directly leads to the administrative block upon entrance into the University premises.

Another student who gave her name as Serah, a first year Sociology undergraduate told Saturday Vanguard that they were yet to come to terms with the development in the University as that was the first time such an ugly development would be recorded.

Some guards sighted in the school the next day of the explosion ran away upon discovering that they were about being interviewed by a journalist. From a distance, they simply said “we don’t know how it happened. We are on morning shift while the incident happened in the night”.

But the Vice Chancellor of the Univrsity, Professor Abdulahi Mahdi who incidentally emerged puts it this way when asked: “there is nothing that I know about it. Just as you are seeing it, is the way I saw it too. It happened yesterday night. So I wouldn’t know what actually happened”.

There were no casualties;a development which made the tragedy a very euphemistic one. Again, Professor Mahdi confirms it. “No, there were no casualties. Not a single person. It happened at night when everybody must have left”, he said.

The Governor of the state, Alhaji Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo who inspected the explosion site in company of his Deputy, Mr. Thainda Jason Rubainu, the Speaker of the State Assembly, Rt. Hon. Inuwa Garba, the State Commissioner of Police, the Commandant of the 301 Artillery Regiment in the state and a host of other government functionaries later told journalists in a briefing that the  matter was being investigated by the security agencies and explained further that the attack was not on the University but on these three offices and appealed to the University community and members of the public to remain calm and embrace peace.

Meanwhile, contrary to insinuations that the attack may have been carried out by Boko Haram, signs have emerged that the tragedy does not have the imprints of the Islamic Sect even though it involved explosives. The presumption is that Boko Haram usually issues a statement in the aftermath of any attack executed by them, claiming responsibility. But no one or group has claimed responsibility of bombing the citadel of learning more for a week now.

Speculations are rife in the town that the attack was an insider’s job. This is being predicated on the fact the explosion came barely a week after a Visitation Panel was inaugurated by Governor Dakwambo. The University since inception in 2004 has never had a Visitation Panel.

What is being speculated  in and outside the school is that some persons with dirty deeds must have masterminded the dastardly act to cover up their crime, thinking that the Panel was coming to investigate it.

Saturday Vanguard learnt that the VC has also set up a panel of inquiry to investigate the incident but it was not known whether the external panel would continue with their job. At the moment, there is still a sound of silence within the school with everyone’s eyes on both the State Governor and the School authorities to know what would be the fate of the University.