One of the survivors of the explosion at Almajiri Tsangaya Modern School in Abuja, Abba Saidu, has been arrested by police detectives shortly after being discharged from the hospital.
The explosion, which occurred on January 6 in the Kuchibuyi community on the outskirts of Kubwa town in Bwari Area Council, claimed the lives of two individuals, Harisu Lawan and Majid Ibrahim.
According to reports, another victim, Fauziyya Ilyasu, was treated at Kubwa General Hospital and discharged within the week. However, due to the severity of his injuries, Saidu was transferred to the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital in Gwagwalada, where he remained under medical care for about a week.
Speaking to Abuja Metro, Saidu’s elder brother, Salisu Dungu, revealed that police officers had kept a constant watch over his brother during his hospital stay.
“I stayed with him for a few days before asking my brother, Nura, to come from our village in Katsina to take care of him while I returned to work," Dungu explained. "Later, Nura called me to say that the police had taken Abba into custody at their Life-Camp office before transferring him to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID). He will have spent exactly two weeks in detention by Monday.”
Dungu stated that, based on his discussions with Saidu, the explosive device was initially found by one of the deceased victims, Harisu Lawan, in a nearby farm where they had been scavenging for sweet potatoes.
Meanwhile, Iliya Shuaibu, the father of another survivor, Fauziyya Iliya, expressed concern over the police’s actions, particularly the continued detention of the school proprietor, Adamu Hashimu, who was arrested on the day of the incident.
While a police source in Kubwa confirmed Saidu’s arrest, efforts to reach the FCT Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) for comments were unsuccessful at the time of filing this report.