BY OKEY NDIRIBE
ABUJA—There was panic in some parts of Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory, Monday, as unconfirmed rumours spread that there had been another bomb blast near the Eagle Square.

Although the source of the rumour could not be traced, it spread like wildfire, prompting editors of media houses to send their reporters to go and investigate what had happened.

As a result, reporters from different media houses besieged the building rumoured to have been hit to ascertain the true position of things only to be told it was a hoax.

Private security men on duty at the building denied knowledge of any blast which occurred within the premises.

When reporters pressurized them to speak on the rumour one of them replied: “Nothing like that happened here; if any bomb blast had occurred here, you would see the impact with your own eyes”.

The second security man said: “Nothing happened here; we are fine”.

When asked if there was any official of  Bayelsa State Liaison Office- which is also located within the building who was around, the security man replied there was none.

He equally insisted that the Chief Security Officer in the building wasn’t around to make comments.

There were several accounts of the exact spot where the rumoured bomb blast occurred.  While one account indicated that it occurred at Bayelsa House, within the Three Arms Zone, another account stated that the blast occurred at the a spot near Eagle Square.

Two militant groups in the country- the Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND) and the Boko Haram Islamic Sect had recently threatened that they would detonate bombs to disrupt planned celebrations for Nigeria’s 51st Independence Anniversary which was scheduled to hold at the Eagle Square in Abuja.

But the event was eventually postponed by the Presidency which issued a statement indicating that the event would no longer hold until 2014 when the nation would mark 100 years of its amalgamation.