2 soldiers dead as explosion rocks barracks in Plateau

Two soldiers, yesterday, lost their lives while one  was injured in an explosion  at the armoury section of the Maxwell Khobe Cantonment, 3rd Armored Division of the Nigerian Army, Rukuba in Bassa local government area of Plateau State.

The barracks was thrown into confusion as the incident occurred around  11:21am when some expired ammunition were being separated from the functional ones by the soldiers. The explosion fuelled  rumour in the state that terrorists had attacked the barrack.

The exercise was said to have been  carried out based on the directive from the Army headquarters that all expired ammunition be destroyed by Monday, April 27.

The Deputy Director, Army Public Relations, Colonel Texas Chukwu, in statement confirmed the explosion and the deaths but debunked the insinuation that  insurgents exploded bombs in the cantonment.

“The cantonment was not under attack nor attacked by insurgents; the explosion heard in the cantonment was from an accident that occurred while troops authorized to destroy unserviceable ammunition were transporting them.

“Some of the unserviceable ammunition  exploded in the process of being moved to the demolition site. The explosion did not affect the cantonment or neighboring communities, unfortunately two soldiers lost their lives and one sustained injuries. Normalcy has since returned to the area.”