Ebonyi state government Friday said it would close down any shop seen selling knockouts during the yuletide period.
This came as a follow up to stories published in national dailies and social media on explosion of an Improvised Explosive Device in a secondary school, Glory Land Academy Azugwu in Ebonyi state which gave a serious injury to one Master Chibuike, a Senior Secondary School 2 Student.
Addressing journalists on the issue the, state Commissioner of Internal Security and Border Peace, Mr Stanley Okoro Emegha, noted that there was never an explosion at the school, but rather it was a lighted knockout which eventually injured the student.
He said: “We showed a proactive response towards the incident yesterday. This is because we will not allow the governor to do everything. The way the incident was blown is unfortunate. There was nothing and absolutely nothing like bomb explosion incident in Glory Land school, Azugwu.
“There was nothing like explosive device in that place. You know that this is Christmas period, that thing was Christmas fireworks. A student smuggled one into the classroom while others were taking their exams and he was playing with it. And on the process, one exploded and got him wounded. Some of the students were not expecting
such and the shock got them down.
“I was called immediately and on getting there, I met with the affected student. I was there when he was rushed to the hospital. Two others, who were hitherto shocked, later regained consciousness and continued with their exams. I was the one that told the parents to go back to their home because it was a knockout. As I was leaving for the place, I called the state police command and DSS to start moving to that place, thinking that it was an explosion, but we discovered that it was a knockout.
“Students, continued with their exams after the whole thing. It was not up to 30 minutes, normalcy returned to the school. The PPRO called me this morning, speaking bitterly about it. Because of this that has happened, I will go round the markets in the town and
Close down any shop selling knockout in the state,” he stated.
