By Simon Ebegbulem
BENIN—Edo State Police Commissioner, Mr Babatunde Kokumo, Tuesday, dismissed fears in some quarters about rumoured  proliferation of bombs in the state, explaining that what was found in an abandoned building at Ekenwa,  Monday evening was not a bomb but explosives used by those who operate quarries.

Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State (right) and the new Edo State Commissioner of Police (CP), Johnson Babatunde Kokumo, at the Government House in Benin City on Wednesday, October 25, 2017. File Photo

Residents of Ekenwa Road in Benin City took to their heels Monday evening after the explosives were found in an abandoned building. It was rumoured that a robbery gang had kept the explosives in the place with a view to using them to blow up an ATM machine at one of the banks on Ekenwa Road.

However, a  team of police detectives arrived the scene and demobilized the explosives. But Mr Kokumo, who spoke to Vanguard on the issue, explained: “People should not be calling that thing bomb. They are explosives used to blast stones or quarries. It is only illegal when it is found in the hands of the wrong people.

“Those who use these explosives always get the licence from the Federal Government. What is actually dangerous is IED, the type we found in Okpella, not these explosives which we found here. I believe that somebody was scared to keep them in his apartment and went to keep it there out of fear. And that was why when we found out, we sent our team of anti- bomb experts and they went there to demobilize it.”

“So there is no cause for alarm, it is not a case of bomb but explosives used for quarries.  We are still trying to investigate how it got there and other issues. So we advise people to go about their duties, there is no cause to panic, Benin City is safe for everyone,” he stated.