UN Probes Attack on Abuja Office

United Nations has said it would undertake a probe of the bomb attack on its building in Abuja  with a view to knowing how its defences were breached.

On Friday, a car rigged with explosives exploded at the Abuja office of the UN - which houses 26 humanitarian and development agencies of the global body - killing not less than 19 people and injuring several others.

Speaking in New York on the blast, Acting Deputy Spokesperson for the secretary-general, Farhan Haq, who noted that the  building was considered well-defended, said the investigation would also help prevent future attack.

"Yes, there were barricades and different gates around the UN. It is regarded as a well-defended building, and we will need to investigate how it was that the attackers managed to get past different levels of protection so that they could cause the damage that they did", Haq said.

While noting that the organisation had been increasing  its security profile in a number of areas around the world to ensure buildings' compliant with different potential threats, he said the attack on its building in Abuja was a sign that some attackers might be able to breach the organisation's defences.

He added that this "is why we’ll need to look at this thoroughly and see how they got through and how that can be prevented."
Haq said that the trip of the Head of the Department of Safety and Security, Gregory Starr, to Nigeria would afford UN the opporutnity to learn better about how its defences were breached.

Also, Nigerians in Diaspora Organization in the Americas (NIDOA), the umbrella organisation of all Nigerians residing in North and South America, has condemned the attack.

In a statement jointly signed by its Chairman, Mr. Ganiyu Dada, and Secretary, Chief Gabe Okoye, NIDOA described the attack as "a despicable act of cowardice" and called for the prosecution of the perpetrators.

It also called on government to re-evaluate the current state of security with a view to upgrading the efficiency of it intelligence gathering apparatus.

While noting that a properly targeted intelligence gathering scheme would expose such devilish plots, the group offered to provide experts to work with government to improve security in the country.

NIDOA also sympathised with victims and their families, and called on Nigerians at home and abroad to join hands against perpetrators of all acts of terrorism in the country.

Thisday