… As Police arrest 6 suspects over alleged drug peddling***

No fewer than three persons were feared dead and many others injured in an explosion that occurred in Kabba, Kogi late on Wednesday.

Sources told the newsmen that the incident occurred at a beer parlour around Lewu Junction in Kabba town.

The source said that the incident occurred at about 9.45 p.m. when people were making merry in the beer parlour.

“I heard a loud sound not far from where I was and as I went there, I saw three bodies while the injured were taken to hospital.

“The injured were taken to St. John’s General Hospital in Kabba for medical attention,” the source explained.

Also, a commercial motorbike rider, who identified himself simply as Dele said: “it was a bomb blast because the sound was so devastating as people died and several others were injured.

“I saw how the victims were picked and taken to the hospital by security personnel in Kabba,” Dele said.

The Commissioner of Police in Kogi, Mr Edward Egbuka, however, told newsmen that the report indicated that it was a gas explosion and not a bomb blast.

Egbuka said that the police operative was on top of the situation and that he would give more details on the explosion after investigations.

In the meantime, the Police Command in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) said it has arrested six suspects for alleged drug peddling.

The command also recovered large quantities of prohibited substances, including dry leaves suspected to be Cannabis sativa of different variants like ‘Loud’, ‘Arizona’, Crack Cocaine, and bottles of Codeine syrup.

The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) in the FCT, DSP Josephine Adeh said this in a statement on Wednesday, in Abuja.

She said the arrest of the suspects was in furtherance of the command’s crusade against crime and criminality in the FCT.

Adeh said the suspects were arrested during a chain of tactical sweep operations, following actionable intelligence by the Command’s Anti-Narcotic unit at different blackspots within the Territory.

“Upon the arrest, the suspects were in possession of large quantities of dry leaves suspected to be Cannabis sativa of different variants like Laud, Arizona, Crack Cocaine, and bottles of Codeine syrup,” she said.

She said the suspects had confessed, during police investigation, to have been in the peddling business for a long.

Adeh said the command had intensified investigations to unravel other groundbreaking revelations that could lead to more arrests.

According to her,  the suspects have been handed over to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) for further investigations.

Adeh said the Commissioner of Police (CP) in charge of FCT, Mr Babaji Sunday, frowned at the increasing rate of moral decadence among the youth.

The CP blamed the increasing rate of crimes and criminality in the society on increase in drug/substance abuse and poor upbringing.

Sunday, therefore, called on all at the apex of religious and societal spheres of influence to maximise their platforms to preach against drug/substance abuse and other deviant behaviours.

He also enjoined FCT residents to continue to cooperate with the Police, remain vigilant and report any suspicious or abnormal occurrence to the command through 08032003913, 08061581938, 07057337653 and 08028940883.