Workers at the National Assembly Complex in Abuja hurriedly abandoned their duty posts yesterday afternoon following rumours that a bomb had been planted in the complex.

The rumours also forced commercial banks operating within the complex to abruptly close shop at about 1p.m., with food vendors and others doing business within the complex soon following suit.

The rumour started making the rounds from about 11a.m., throwing the complex into panic in view of the previous day’s twin bomb blasts at the Nyanya area of the Nigerian capital that killed at least 75 people, according to official figures. The Assembly workers began leaving their offices as early as 1.30 p.m., reportedly on the orders of senior officers. By 3.00 p.m. almost all of the offices were empty.

Leaving nothing to chance, Acting Sergeant-at-Arms of the National Assembly, Ibrahim Ndako liaised with the police and operatives of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) to reinforce security at major entrances into the Assembly premises. Ndako told newsmen that there was no bomb in the complex and attributed the workers’ panic to mere rumours.

“It is just a rumour,” he said. “Those banks chose to close because we have assured them that there is nothing like that. It’s just mere rumour.”

A similar scenario played itself out at the Federal Secretariat, where panic-stricken workers abandoned their offices at about 3:30pm and headed home following what turned out to be a false alarm of an allegedly impending bomb attack.

•Photo shows the National Assembly Complex.