Legislators and civil servants on Tuesday afternoon vacated the National Assembly complex in Abuja following a bomb scare around the complex. The scare spilled over to the Federal Secretarial in the Central Business District with most offices hurriedly vacated.

Apprehensive workers at the National Assembly complex were seen leaving their offices in droves as the bomb scare comes only a day after explosion in Nyanya, a suburb of Abuja, which killed scores of people.

Offices, banks and restaurants within the complex were quickly locked up, while officers of the Nigeria Police, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps and the Department of State Security Service were alerted and were later seen patrolling the area to avert any mishap.

The confusion, which started around 2 p.m., followed a tip allegedly given during a meeting between the clerk of the National Assembly and management staff.

The tension soon spread to the Federal Secretariat and civil servants were seen trooping out of their offices.

Some of the workers, who were rushing out of the premises said that their superiors directed them to lock-up and go home.

Reacting to the development at the National Assembly, the acting Sergeant-at-Arms, Ibrahim Ndako, said the bomb scare was a mere rumour and should be disregarded.

He said “there is nothing like that. It was just a rumour. Those banks that closed chose to close. We have told you that there is nothing like that. It is all rumour.”