NIGERIA: President Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria is safe and there has not been a military coup, the Governor of Lagos State, Mr Bola Tinubu, said late yesterday after a series of explosions shook the city. Lagos, home to more than 10 million people, was shaken yesterday by dozens of massive explosions which echoed across the city, shaking buildings and sending people fleeing.
Many were feared dead last night.The blasts were centred on the Ikeja military barracks, close to the airport in the heart of the city, but reverberations could be felt all over the area.
In Africa's most populous country, one with a long history of military rule, speculation immediately turned to the idea of a possible coup, but military sources said this was unlikely.
Nigeria has been hit by six military coups in the past but the military handed over power in 1999 to a civilian regime and a new coup was not thought imminent, diplomats and experts said.
A senior source close to the Defence Minister, Mr Theophilus Danjuma, said it appeared the cause was probably a fire at the armoury in the Ikeja army cantonment.
"We do not know what it is exactly but it appears, at least at first, to be the result of a fire at the armoury," said the source, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The Lagos State Police Commissioner, Gen Mike Okiro, confirmed the report.
"We have had a series of blasts in the Ikeja military cantonment. We are trying to establish the cause. The situation is not at all clear," he said.
"The explosions have been only in Ikeja cantonment. There have not been explosions anywhere else in the city," he said.
An AFP photographer said that what appeared to be a shell had landed in the Ilu-Peju area of the city, killing at least one person.
The series of deafening blasts shook buildings and shattered windows all over the city - black Africa's largest - shortly after 6 p.m. and went on for more than 1½ hours.
No information was available immediately on even a provisional death toll.
Two blasts were heard one after the other shortly after 6 p.m. but the cause was not clear.
After a lull of around 10 minutes, a series of explosions followed. A military official said the military cantonment in Ikeja was on fire.
The blasts caused panic across the city, snarling traffic, and radio stations broke into normal broadcasting to report the situation.