THE Taraba State Police Command has denied that an Improvised Explosive Device led to the death of three children in Didango Geita village, Karim Lamido Local Government Area of the state on Saturday, contrary to the claims of some of the villagers.
The Commissioner of Police in the state, David Iloyonomon, while refuting the claims asserted that the three children that died were playing with a Dane gun on a tree. He said gun powder from the Dane gun later exploded and killed them.
According to him, the four other children playing under the tree were injured with one fatally affected and receiving treatment at the state’s specialist hospital located in Jalingo, the state capital.
“One Danjuma Audu gave the information to the police that there was an explosion which resulted to the death of three youngsters and injury to four others.
“On the receipt of the information, we deployed the anti-bomb unit of the Nigeria Police Force who rushed to the scene, conducted a professional and thorough search and discovered that no exhibit is related to dynamite or IED recovered from the scene.
“Instead, they recovered pallets from a Dane gun which was evident in the bodies of the casualties and suspected to be responsible for their death.
“Since there was no assailant, it is suspected to be an accidental discharge,” Iloyonomon said.
The Commissioner of Police further revealed that the scene of the incident has been condoned and investigation still ongoing to unravel more facts.
“Further findings by the E.O.D unit revealed that the three pallets recovered are used in conjunction with gun powder to prepare ammunition for Dane guns.
“Thereafter, we went to further interview Mallam Danjuma Audu who reported the incident to the police. He revealed that the three children that died were the ones on top of the tree in the farm, while the other four that were on the ground sustained injuries.
“That’s a very clear evidence to show that it is not an IED explosion, because if it were to be IED or dynamite explosion, those children on the ground and on the tree would have been shattered beyond recognition,” he said.
The police commissioner identified the three deceased children as Miracle Danjuma, 11 years old, Liyacheyan Bitrus, 12 years old, Kefas Bitrus, 11 years old. The first casualty Miracle Danjuma the son of the man who reported the incident.
Others that sustained varying degrees of injuries include Joseph Danjuma, 8 years old, Leah Aluda 8 years old, Godbless Hassan, 7 years old, Christian Hassan, 7 years old, who happen to be the grand children of Danjuma Audu, the owner of an irrigation rice farm whom the children followed to assist in his farm.