From Timothy Olanrewaju, Maiduguri
The Military has blamed excessive heat as being responsible for the midnight explosions at the ammunition storage facilities in the Army barracks in Maiduguri.
Anxiety gripped residents of the area, as heavy sounds of explosion from Giwa Barracks of the Nigerian Army in Maiduguri, reverberated across the city at about 11:30pm on Wednesday till the early hours of yesterday .
The fire and thick smoke billowing from the barracks,also caused anxiety and confusion.
The new Theatre Commander, Military Joint Task Force, North East, Operation Hadin Kai, Maj.Gen.Abdulsalam
Abubakar yesterday,said intense heat triggered the fire outbreak that caused explosion at the ammunition storage facilities.
“The explosion was due to the intense heat currently prevailing in Borno and other regions of the country, which had a direct impact on the storage facility,” he said at a press briefing.
He said the incident caused widespread panic among the local populace.
He explained that the collaborative efforts of the military fire fighters, the Federal Fire Service and the Borno State Fire Service Department and various fire-fighting vehicles from security agencies, put out the fire.
Gen Abubakar said residents within the immediate vicinity, were also relocated from the area to prevent any harm to the public.
He promised that the Army would conduct a comprehensive review of all its storage facilities to mitigate the effect of the current high temperature being experienced.
Borno has been experiencing excessive heat in the last one week as temperature soars to about 46 degree Celsius.