The Ebonyi State Police Command has said the man, who died in an explosion, on Tuesday in Afikpo, was not a suicide bomber as widely speculated.

The spokesperson for the command, Loveth Odah, said the victim of the blast was a policeman on duty in the area.

She said the policeman was a riot policeman on special deployment in the Afikpo North Local Government Area of the state.

Odah stated that the cop, Idi Aminu, died as a result of an accidental hand grenade explosion.

The incident, which occurred opposite the Amizi Amangbala Primary School and the popular Eke Market in Afikpo, threw the residents into panic as passers-by ran helter-skelter.

Residents had speculated that the deceased was a suicide bomber, but Odah said he was an inspector of police.

“He mistakenly hit the lead of his grenade, which was hanging on his waist, with his elbow, resulting in the deadly explosion,” she stated.

She noted that the police officer served in the MOPOL 32 and was not a suicide bomber as being circulated in the social media and other platforms.

A source in the area said the incident happened around 10am.

“He made an attempt to enter the Amaizu/Amangballa Primary School, but he was turned back by the school security men because he couldn’t explain his reason for visiting. He immediately started running to a nearby bush before a big bang was heard,” the source stated.

The source said residents ran helter-skelter when the bomb exploded, but reconvened at the scene a few minutes later only to discover the man’s corpse in a pool of his own blood.

The state Commissioner for Internal Security and Border Peace, Chief Stanley Okoro-Emegha, confirmed the incident, but noted that he had yet to get the details.

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