A bomb scare at the Bullet wing of the federal secretariat yesterday made many people scamper for safety.

According to eyewitnesses, the news of the bomb scare, which spread like wildfire around both wings of the federal secretariat, caused the civil servants and other visitors to the place to hurriedly close work for the day earlier than the usual time.

The civil servants who were in the habit of closing for work at 4pm were hurrying to leave the place as soon as the 2pm Muslim Jumat service was over.

When LEADERSHIP WEEKEND visited the federal secretariat, the entire place was cordoned off. Vehicles and individuals were prevented from getting close to the suspected spot. The roads leading to the Aso Rock villa were also cordoned off, making it difficult for the people going in that direction to gain access.

When the FCT police spokesman, Mr Rasheed Mustapha, was contacted, he said there was nothing like that. He pointed out that the place was safe and that people were going about their duties. Asked to explain the motive for the cordoning off the roads, Mustapha said that it was a routine practice of the security operatives.

Force spokesman Mr. Frank Mba dismissed the report of bomb scare at the secretariat, saying that the police should be allowed to do their duty of ensuring security of life and property.

Mba assured Abuja residents that there was no bomb anywhere in the FCT, stressing that the police were alive to their duty.

"The most important thing is that there is no bomb anywhere in Abuja. Abuja is being protected strategically, systematically and thoroughly, and I want to assure the residents that they have no need to be scared of anything. People should not see security checks mounted to mean that there was a bomb scare," he said.

In the past few weeks, there have been three bomb incidents in the Abuja city centre. Two of the bombs went off in the Wuse 2 area. Even though no lives were lost in the incidents, property worth millions of naira were destroyed.