agonising cry of a 15-year-old boy, whose legs were
shattered and holding on to his mother trailed the
deafening bomb explosion reverberating through the
Federal Capital City. A woman was lying face down
without limbs while another who was surrounded by
her children, struggled for life before giving up in
their arms. Several other corpses littered the ground
in the midst of the injured, following the massive
bomb blast that rocked the crowded Nyanya Bus
Terminus, at 6.45 am yesterday. No less than 88
residents of the densely populated slum located at
the suburb of the Federal Capital City were killed
while over 200 sustained various degrees of injuries.
Some of the dead were burnt beyond recognition,
while others were blown into pieces as only their
severed parts were packed into bags by rescue
workers. Over 40 vehicles were also destroyed.
The incident happened when the bus station which
serves as a major terminus for commuters coming
from satellite towns disembark before joining the
high capacity luxury buses to the city centre.
Condemnations immediately greeted the gruesome
incident just as survivours of the blast and
eyewitnesses have been recounting their
experiences.
Although Police Spokesman, Mr. Frank Mba, put the
death toll at 71 and 124 injured, eye witnesses and
hospital sources said that the dead were far more
than the official figure.
An eyewitness who simply identified himself as
Romanus said pieces of human flesh were flung to
different parts of the motor park and beyond.
When Vanguard visited the scene of the blast, there
were pools of fresh human blood which emitted a
very strong smell. The explosion caused extensive
damage at the park.
Charred remains of at least seven cars, as well as six
buses were seen at the scene of the incident as a
joint team of different security forces battled to
evacuate the dead and injured.
How the bomb was planted
According to eye witnesses, a man drove a red
Volkswagen space bus into the premises of the big
capacity bus terminus popularly called El Rufai Buses
and parked in front of two of the buses which were
loaded with passengers and almost moving to the
city centre.
Vanguard gathered that upon protest from drivers of
the buses that he was obstructing their exit, the
driver who allegedly came with four other passengers
reportedly said he was going to get some lower
denominations of money to settle his 'passengers'.
It was learnt that just about five minutes after the
driver and the passengers left the Volkswagen bus, it
exploded, killing everyone near it.
The blast which left a large crater at the spot where
the bus was parked also resulted in a huge fire which
engulfed cars, the loaded and empty buses and all
structures in the area.
At the scene of the blast, a pack of local delicacy,
popularly called Okpa, whose owner was reportedly
ripped into two was still intact, unaffected by the
blast.
Piles of bags of intending passengers were scattered
as far as over 30 metres. In the midst of concerted
rescue efforts, mobile phones of some of the
passengers who either died or sustained injuries
from the blast were still heard ringing.
Vehicular
damages
16 large SURE-P buses, popularly called El-Rufai
buses and 24 others were either burnt or destroyed
from the effect of the blast.
The National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki
(Rtd);the Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal
Alex Badeh and all the service chiefs visited the
scene of the incident.
Hospitals overwhelmed, call for blood
Hospitals across the capital city have sent out
passionate appeals for voluntary blood donation from
members of the public. They said that their blood
banks were exhausted and that a large number of
the injured had lost much blood and required
transfusion.
The managements of the Asokoro Hospital and the
National Hospital cried out that they had run out of
blood and needed blood urgently to avoid losing
those who suffered much blood loss in the incident.
Relatives recount losses
A relative of one of the dead victims, Sadiat, who
could not hold back tears, told Vanguard that his
nephew was to travel to Taraba and left home about
to 5 am in spite of the fact that they live not far away
from the park just for him to catch the first bus since
Taraba is far. "Only for me to hear deafening sound of
a blast and rushed to the scene. It took quite some
time before I could locate my nephew's charred body
and identified him with his cloth. I could only identify
the boy with torn cloth he wore", she said as she
wept sorely.
At the Asokoro General Hospital, relatives of the
victims gathered in different corners, waiting to
identify their relatives, who were probably involved
in the bomb blast.
Miss Adigun Bidemi who was looking for her brother,
Mr. Gbenga Oladele an architect said "my mother
called me to tell me of the blast and that my brother
used to join the high capacity buses to work. My
mother and my brother left home together this
morning but parted ways at the park shortly before
the explosion and we have not been able to contact
the young man who headed for the high capacity
bus. My mum called me and said that there was a
bomb blast at Nyanya, so we went there but we could
not find him, we had gone to the National Hospital
but we did not see him, so that is why we are here to
check on him, but they did not allow us in to check"
Lucky survivors' accounts
I was on the queue to enter a bus
One of the victims admitted at the Wuse General
Hospital who gave his name as Cosmas Ugwuanyi
from Enugu State told Vanguard that he was on
queue to enter the El-Rufai bus when the blast
occurred. Though, Mr. Ugwuanyi's case was not so
critical, the blast affected his eardrum and he was
having difficulties hearing what people were saying.
The blast removed my shirt, scattered my car, killed
my four friends- survivor
A survivor of the blast who escaped unscathed, said
his survival without a scratch was because of
providence.
The victim, who was still in shock as at the time he
was responding to questions said he was grateful to
God for being gracious to him.
Narrating what he witnessed, the victim who
wouldn't mention his name said: "I went to Nyanya
to pick my friends. I was under the Nyanya Bridge to
pick them, one person sat with me in the front, while
the other three people sat at the back. I had to enter
the Park to pick them because the Task Force would
not allow people to pick passengers under the
Bridge.
"We all saw the commotion that was happening as a
car drove into the park and the people were
complaining about the driver. The last person
entering my car shut the door and I tried to move the
car and everything went blank. The explosion threw
me far away and scattered my car while all the four
people with me in the car died.
"I really can't say what happened, I just saw myself
here, they kept me on a wheel chair, but I got up to
call my people."
As he turned round, some of his relatives arrived the
hospital, jubilated with him, but the medical
personnel took him in for further medical
investigations.
An eye witness, Michael Chuks said: "Our vehicle just
left the park and we have not even left that junction
close to the park when we heard loud noise, some
people said it was a burst tyre but we knew that the
noise was more than burst tyre so we parked and the
next we saw were plenty of dead bodies on ground.
"The blast affected more than four el-Rufai buses
already loaded with passengers. There were more
than 500 people. Very soon now the government will
tell us that two or three people died."
Narrating his ordeal, a survivor, James Igwe said a
driver drove into the park and parked in front of the
already loaded high capacity buses and disappeared
before the explosion.
According to him: "A vehicle came in and parked and
the driver disappeared from the vehicle, there were
many people inside all those long buses you are
seeing now, this bomb exploded and everybody was
running, some people were seriously injured and we
were calling for help but nobody came, because some
people were still unconscious and they were on the
ground.
How I cheated death —Chinenye
A food vendor who identified herself as Chinenye
Emeka, was grateful to God for sparing her life as the
explosion occurred immediately she stepped outside
her shop and walked across the road to buy
polythene bags with which to sell her snacks.
She, however, regretted that many other food
vendors at the park died in the explosion.
Her account: "The vehicle just drove in at a point
where two "El-Rufai" buses which were full of
passengers were about moving while many
passengers were on queue struggling to board other
vehicles.
"I saw a red-coloured space wagon going inside the
park as I was trying to cross the road back to where I
kept my bread and other things which I sell but while
waiting to make sure there was no traffic on the road
before I crossed over, I heard a loud sound. I fell down
but by the time I got up, there was thick smoke all
over the place. I tried running but I couldn't and
when the smoke could clear a bit, I saw many people
lying down dead while many vehicles were already
on fire".
A survivor of the blast
Jeremiah Ofem, a civil servant had bruises but
survived
Displaying his bruised body to Vanguard, Ofem
insisted: "Those who planted the vehicle may have
driven it to the place earlier and left. I believe they
detonated the bomb through the use of a remote
control as no one was inside the vehicle."
Epuele was hit from a distance
One of the injured at the Nyanya General Hospital,
Michael Epuele, who said he was a long distance
driver at a near-by motor park, wondered how he was
hit. He said he was hit even when he was many
metres away from the point of explosion.
Epuele claimed that when he and others were being
evacuated from the scene, he saw a big hole created
following the blast. "I believe the blast was buried in
the ground, maybe in the night, else, how come there
was a very big hole at the scene," he questioned.
How a local bitters saved my life
Though he was aware that driving under the
influence of alcohol was a crime that could earn him
either imprisonment or a fine if caught by law
enforcement agents, Timothy Eze Okorie was grateful
for yesterday's decision to buy a bottle of Alomo, a
local alcoholic bitters popular with artisans and
commercial vehicle drivers across the country before
beginning his job as a commercial bus driver.
Narrating his experience to Vanguard at the scene of
the incidence, Mr. Okorie who was visibly shaken said
he could not explain why he took the decision to buy
the bitters rather than go back to Masaka to bring
back passengers to the bus terminus when the bomb
blast took place.
According to him, 'I Left my House at about six in the
morning to bring passengers from Masaka, Mararaba,
One Man Village and Ado to the Nyanya bus
Terminus where they will board El-Rufai bus to the
city centre. I dropped the last passenger under the
Nyanya Bridge and was supposed to enter the park
to carry passengers back to Masaka. Strangely, I had
this sudden and strong feeling to drink before
beginning the day's job. So rather than enter the
park, I took the next turn, went round the bridge and
headed towards Jukwoyi to buy a bottle of Alomo".
That decision turned out to be his saving grace as
less than three minutes after he left the bus park, a
huge explosion occured.
What will I tell our parents, cries Francis Alozie
"My sister, Miriam Edozie Chinyere, left this early
around 6.30 in the morning to catch up with their
staff bus which normally waits for them at Nyanya
Bridge.
Unfortunately, when I heard about this bomb issue I
tried calling her but her number was not going
through, all the two numbers were switched off. And
it is not as if the battery was down because I was the
one that charged the battery of the two phones for
her. She is my cousin, we live together at Kurudu,
she works at the Airport.
I went to Nyanya Hospital first and they said that
only one female patient was kept there. They said
they had the list where all female patients were
compiled.
I tried to see the names and I did not see anywhere
they listed names and here too I did not see any
names I am just confused. I don't know what to do. If
our parents start calling now, what will I tell them?
I passed out — Abdullahi
One of the victims, who identified himself as Yaro
Inusa Abdulahi, an Okada rider from Kano State, said,
the blast occurred when he was trying to cross the
road to see somebody when he heard a blast.
Abdulahi, who lives at national headquarters lodge,
Karu, said: "I heard a big blast and fainted, when I
opened my eyes, I saw wounds all over my hands,
legs and head. About five El-Rufai buses were loading
at the scene of the incident."
Another victim who spoke to our reporter, Daniel Job,
who lives in Mararaba said: "I came with my brother
to board a bus to town, and because there was no
motor from Mararaba to town, I decided to enter a
bike from Maraba to Nyanya, so that we could board
a bus to town. After buying the ticket at Nyanya
motor park, I discovered that the first bus had got
filled up and we were asked to enter the second one,
on our way to enter the next bus, that was when I
heard the bomb explosion.
After the explosion, I discovered that I just had a
little injury and started looking for my brother and
sister, who were already inside the bus I missed."
I came out of the car through the window- Busayo
Another victim, Mr. Adeoye Busayo, 40 year-old
security consultant at a private security firm in
Abuja, said he left his house around 6.00 am with
"my Nissan sunny car with some people I wanted to
give a lift.
"When we got to Nyanya around 6:30 am, there was
a little traffic between Skakoma and the check point.
I was about 30 to 40 meters to Nyanya park; all of a
sudden, I heard a terrible blast, and there was dust
everywhere, people were running helter skelter.
Everybody was panicking, though the sound was
very terrifying, after the first blast, all my windscreen
and side glasses were already shattered because of
the vibration.
"Then I heard another blast. This time, I just heard a
terrible noise at the roof of my car; I managed to
escape through the window because the door could
not open. I over-heard the people in my car shouting
help, help and blood was gushing out of their bodies.
"At this point, the weather became dark because
there was durst everywhere. We started running and
I saw a lady fail down from my car after struggling to
get out of the car through the back glass and fire
from the car at my back caught her.
"Everybody behind me all left their cars and ran
away, instead of people running for safety, because
you could neither see your back nor your front, they
ran to where the fire was raging because it was only
that direction of the fire that was a little bit
illuminated, that was what deceived a lot of people."
Abdul Isiaka, a welder at Golden Club company in
Nyanya, said: "We had been at the garage since 6 am
and when we could not enter the first bus, we
decided to enter the second bus, in the process of
entering, all of a sudden, I saw smoke under the El-
Rufai bus and we started running, after running to a
distance, the bomb exploded, and trying to cross to
the other side of the road, another one exploded, that
was how I got injured.
"It did not take too long before the rescue team
came, in fact I went to them because I was crying for
help," said the 23 year old Mararaba resident.
I just found my self on the ground- Sake
Another victim, Anquer Sake, 40, a public servant in
Asokoro, who lives in Orozo area said: "I got to
Nyanya park, got my ticket and queued, I just found
myself on the ground, I did not know how I was
brought here at Asokoro hospital. I just did my x-ray,
waiting for the result because I got an injury on my
head.
The worst hit
The worst hit were inter-state commuters going to
the Northern states of Benue, Bauchi, Nassarawa,
Gombe, Tarraba, as well as, workers leaving the park
to the city centre.
Others were: Petty traders, food vendors, Okada
riders, tea brewers popularly called Mai-Shai and
vehicles conveying passengers to various locations
within and outside the FCT.
Source : Vanguard
Sent From David Aniemeka
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