A mystery explosion at the weekend rocked the Enugu State Campaign headquarters of Barrister George Tabugbo Ogara, a factional governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Enugu State.
The governorship candidate was produced by the Deacon Okey Ogbodo faction of Enugu APC as against the guber candidacy of Senator Ayogu Eze, produced by the recognised APC state chairman, Dr. Ben Nwoye.
The campaign headquarters is located very close to that of Eze, at Chime lane, beside Ogui junction. The explosion resulted into fire, which was quickly put out by men of Enugu State Fire Service. However, the fire destroyed two vehicles, which were branded with pictures of Ogara, President Muhammadu Buhari and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Geoffrey Onyeama.
The windscreens of three other buses shattered to smithereens, creating a suspicion that the fire was deliberately set by yet to be identified hoodlums.
The Enugu State Chief Fire officer, Mr. Okwudili Ohaa, said that the incident occurred around 2am on Sunday.
His words: “We responded promptly and fought the fire to standstill. We prevented the fire from spreading to other buildings and vehicles. We attended to the fire with two fire engines.”
He said that he learnt the fire started with what sounded like an explosion within the two vehicles simultaneously, “and before you know it, two of the vehicles were already burning.
“But because of the proximity to our office, my men were right there on time with two fire engines. My men fought gallantly and controlled the fire.”
The Enugu State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Mr Ebere Amariazu (ASP), confirmed the incident, adding that the police had already commenced investigation. Ogara, when contacted, said that he was in Lagos State, when the incident happened.
He urged the law enforcement agencies to unravel the cause of the explosion.