Nigerian security operatives on Sunday said a bomb blast attempt by an unknown person during a Church service in northeast Bauchi State was averted.

State police commissioner Muhammad Indabawa and Adeola Ajayi, the Director of State Security Services (SSS), separately disclosed this at news conferences in Bauchi on Sunday.

Ajayi said an unknown bomber had gone to the United Methodist Church (UMC), opposite the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Teaching Hospital (ATBUTH), Bauchi, during a Church service and dropped a bag which contained the improvised explosive in the Church.

The SSS boss said a member of the Church who saw the man with the bag trying to leave the Church after he dropped it, raised an alarm while church members run after him but could not arrest him.

The man, the SSS chief added, had rushed to the motorcyclist who brought him to the Church and escaped to an unknown destination.

Efforts by the police to arrest the suspect did not yield result as he had escaped, using the commercial motorcycle.

The explosive device, which was made with a metal casing, was jointly detonated by officers and men of the SSS and police.

Ajayi said investigation had started but appealed to the public to provide the security agents with relevant information that would ensure the security of lives and property.

Indabawa, at a news conference, said following the receipt of the information from the church leaders, SSS personnel and some bomb experts attached to Governor Isa Yuguda detonated the explosive.

He said the experts said if the bomb had exploded, it would have killed many people and destroyed many properties.

The police chief urged the people to be more vigilant and report any suspected person to security operatives.