By Samuel Oyadongha, Yenagoa
The Bayelsa State civil servant secretariat complex was yesterday thrown into confusion when the police ordered the evacuation of the premises following an alleged bomb scare.

This reporter who visited the secretariat complex which is situated close to the Government House, the seat opf power in the predominantly riverine state noticed the pandemonium caused by the alarm.

Workers at the usually busy premises were seen leaving their offices in droves while the parking lot was empty as car owners were forced to remove their vehicles.

As at 2.50 pm the premises had been deserted while men of the anti bomb squad were seen frisking an abandoned salon car by the side of the road.

Pedestrians plying the deserted Onopa-Road Safety stretch of the Mbiama-Yenagoa road leading to the seat of power and the secretariat complex which condoned off by the men of the anti bomb squad were ordered to switch off their mobile phones.

Also motorists on approaching the Banquet Hall end of the Government House at Onopa were forced to make a detour through Lambert Eradiri road to link the hospital junction due to blockade mounted by the security operatives.

It was gathered that the men of the anti bomb squad police were acting on tip off from an undisclosed source said to raised suspicion about an abandoned car parked by the side of the road less than fifty yards from the Government House entrance.

A food vendor within the secretariat complex who was seen packing her wares told Saturday Vanguard “they (Police) ordered us to close shop that they are looking for bomb.”

Though it could not be confirmed if any substance was found in the vehicle which led to the police ordering of the workers to immediately vacate the secretariat complex, a security source confided in Saturday Vanguard that the men of the anti bomb squad did not handle the matter well.

According to the source, what they should have done was to narrow their search to the suspected vehicle instead of ordering the workers to vacate their offices thereby causing anxiety among the workers.

Contacted, the state Commissioner of Police, Aliyu Musa said there was no cause for alarm as they were on top of the situation.

The police boss said he only sent his bomb experts to the scene following report of a suspicious vehicle parked for long there which the complainant feared might have been rigged with explosives.