By John Ikani
At least four people have been killed and a shop destroyed in an explosion near a primary school at Aba by Court road in Sabon Gari, Kano State.
The explosion caused a lot of tension and panic across the commercial city as parents were seen horridly evacuating their wards from school.
Confirming the incident, Kano State Government clarified that the early Tuesday morning explosion in the Sabon Gari area did not occur in a school.
The state Commissioner for Information, Muhammad Garba said an investigation has since commenced to determine the cause, impact and measures to be taken.
Garba called on the people in the state, particularly those living in the area where the incident occurred, to remain calm while the government in collaboration with relevant agencies are working on the matter.
The commissioner assured residents that government would keep the public abreast of any development.
Also confirming the explosion, Kano State commissioner of police, Samaila Dikko, in a short video clip issued to newsmen, stated that there was an explosion from a gas cylinder at a welder’s shop close to a nursery and primary school.
According to him, the explosion brought the building down and people were buried in rubbles from where four dead bodies were recovered.
“It wasn’t a bomb blast. It’s a gas cylinder explosion. The seller’s shop is on the ground floor of the building where the school is located.
“So, when the cylinder exploded, it brought down the building and the pupils got injured. There wasn’t a bomb blast,” the Police Commissioner stated.
Kano is the most populous city in northern Nigeria.
For several years, it has been largely spared from the extremist group Boko Haram and its offshoot, the Islamic State West Africa Province, as well as armed kidnapping gangs behind deadly violence in the region.
But nearly a decade ago a massive bomb attack by Boko Haram had killed more than 100 people in a mosque in the city.
