KANO BOMB ATTACK: I have lost my nose, I may die any moment – Survivor

IT was a tale of pains and anguish as survivors of the Monday bomb attack on luxury buses in Kano recounted their experiences.

Narrating his experience, Yisau Ibrahim, a bus conductor at the motor park, who was wreathing in pains on his hospital bed, said, “I have lost my nose, I also have a deep gorge in my stomach. I am now placed on drips. I am in severe pains. I may die any moment from now, only God will avenge what these people have done to me, I will never forgive them.”

Not done, Ibrahim rained curses on the attackers, saying, “the people responsible for my ordeal would never know peace. I did not commit any offence. If I had offended them, I would have apologised to them.”

Hamisu Usman, another survivor currently on admission at the Murtala Muhammed Specialist Hospital, who was a Port-Harcourt bound passenger, lamented that the attack had distorted his plans.

The father of six wondered, “what is my offence that made these people to cause irreparable damage to my life?  Allah would never forgive them if I die in the process. The fate of my children now hangs in the balance, since what I did not expect has befallen me. I am just struggling to make ends meet, but look at the situation I am passing through now.”

For Ahmed Abubakar Warawa, 58, a cap seller, it was his desire to see his sick wife healed that led him to the motor park where he barely escaped with his life.

According to Warawa, currently on admission at the Murtala Mohammed Specialist Hospital, he was at home on Monday when he was informed that his third wife was seriously sick and he needed to get some drugs for her.

He added that since he had no money on him, he promptly rushed to the motor park with the intention to sell some caps to raise funds for the drugs.

“As I struggled to get people who would buy caps from me, I heard the blast of the bomb. When I opened my eyes, I found myself on a hospital bed.”

Recounting his experience, Yunusa Rabe, who sold onions at the park, said, “As was my practise, I was trying to persuade customers to buy onions from me. When I got to the front of Gobison Luxury bus, I saw a Volkswagen Golf car approaching us from the front. Then the bomb went off and I was hit. My worry is not the injury I have sustained, but what my family is going through. My five children and two wives depend on whatever sales I make everyday. Now where would they get something to eat?”

When Kikelomo Bolaji, a trader, left Lagos for Kano to buy some wares, she never thought of being a victim of suicide bombers.

Bolaji, currently receiving treatment at a private hospital in Sabongari, said, “I came from Lagos to purchase clothes at Kwanti–Kwari, but look at what I am passing through now. I had finished my purchase and had already spoken with my sister in Lagos to inform her that I was already at the park on my way to Lagos. It was shortly after that the suicide bombers attacked the bus that was supposed to take me back to Lagos.”

Mr Chukwu Emeka, a clothes seller, who also barely managed to survive the attack, said “I come from Enugu every month to buy Guinea brocade at Kwanti-Kwari market and resell at Enugu. I was eating at a restaurant when I was told that it was time for our bus to leave. I had to abandon my food so that I would not miss the bus. As I entered the luxury bus, I heard a loud noise. I must have passed out after that because when I woke up, I found myself on this hospital bed. I appeal to the Federal Government to find a lasting solution to these attacks.”

Emeka added that if granting the suicide bombers amnesty would be the solution, the government should do it to save the innocent people from needless attacks.

Esther Nwoke, now receiving treatment at another hospital, said, “Why is it that the Igbo people were the victims of this sad incident? I don’t even know how I arrived at this hospital, but somebody told me I was brought to the hospital in a wheel barrow because there was no car to convey the victims to the hospital as of the time the incident occurred.”

Again, gunmen kill policewoman in Kano

Again, in Kano, a policewoman, Memuna Yusuf, was, on Tuesday, shot dead by unknown gunmen.

According to an eyewitness, the killing of the policewoman at Farm Centre area of the city occurred in the early hours of Tuesday, immediately the woman alighted from her car.

The source said the unknown gunmen, who drove a KEKE NAPEP, open fire on her, leaving her dead before they left the scene for an unknown destination.

The state Commissioner of Police, Alhaji Musa Daura, confirmed the incident, while he added that the suicide attack at the Luxury Park on Monday claimed 22 lives, leaving 65 others with varying degrees of injury.

“The Kano State police command is displeased to inform the general public of an ugly incident which occurred on Monday, March 18, 2013 at about 1770hrs, whereby two suicide bombers drove a Golf car, blue in colour, into Luxury bus park, on New Road, Sabongari, Kano.

“They attacked and hit a bus belonging to Gobison Motors, which is taking off to Lagos and sparked off a serious explosion which illuminates the particular bus into flames and affects passengers, hawkers, traders and other workers in the park.

“So far, a total of 22 people were confirmed dead and 65 people sustained varying degrees of injuries. Five buses were burnt. All injured persons were taken to various hospitals within the metropolis for treatment, while corpses were deposited in the morgue,” the police boss said.

6 feared dead, 2 injured in Borno blast

Six soldiers were feared dead, while two others sustained injuries when an improvised explosive device (IED), suspected to have been planted by Boko Haram sect, tore a Joint Task Force (JTF) vehicle apart.

However, the JTF, in a statement signed by its spokesman, Lieutenant-Colonel Sagir Musa, said only one soldier was killed, while two others sustained injuries.

The statement made available to Nigerian Tribune in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, on Tuesday, further stated that a Toyota Hilux vehicle and a Honda car were damaged in the incident.

JTF, however, said no civilian casualty was recorded, as the area had been cordoned off and swept by the bomb disposal arm of the JTF.

It added that 10 suspected terrorists were arrested in connection with the incident.

Earlier, eyewitness had told the Nigerian Tribune that an IED suspected to have been planted by the Boko Haram sect had torn a JTF vehicle apart, killing six and injuring two JTF personnel.

The eyewitness, who did not want his name in the print, had said the explosion, which occured at about 11:47 a.m at Bank Roundabout, near a popular eatery joint, came barely 24 hours after gunmen suspected to be Boko Haram sect members attacked three schools within the metropolis, killing some teachers, including female teachers and pupils.

According to the eyewitness, he was about to enter a bank when he heard the explosion, only to discover that the Toyota Hilux belonging to the JTF had been torn apart by the explosion.

“It was horrendous, as the bodies littered the ground. People who were close and at vantage position said only two out of the eight in the vehicle seemed to be alive,” he said.

Attempts to get further confirmation from the police failed, while the state Commissioner of Police, Yuguda Abdullahi, who had earlier invited the Nigerian Tribune to his office, was busy attending to some deputy inspectors-general of police (DIGs), who were in Maiduguri.

Igbo traders close shops in Kano

Igbo traders, on Tuesday, shut their shops throughout Kano, in protest over Monday’s bombing of luxury buses in the town.

The action was said to have been in compliance with a directive by the leaders of Ndigbo resident in the city, after a meeting held at Sabongari.

The president of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Kano State chapter, Chief Tobias Michael Idika, who confirmed the development to the Nigerian Tribune on the telephone, said the leaders were already compiling the names of the Igbo affected by the tragedy.

He said a register had been opened for people to provide details about any of their relations that might have been missing, following the incident.

This is just as he blamed security agencies for playing down the number of casualties in the incident.

Idiaka claimed that the luxury bus belonging to Gibson Motors, hit by the bombers had 52 passengers and 15 ‘attachments,’ the local parlance for excess number of passengers at the time of the incident.

According to him, none of the occupants survived, as the blasts occurred when the bus was about to take off from the park.

The deceased, the Ohanaeze chief stated, included the driver of the bus, popularly called Kwekwe and one Ikechukwu Anosike, who was among the other passengers.

Besides, he said five more bodies were removed from the rubbles on Tuesday by the rescue operation, which, he claimed, had a hectic time trying to retrieve two charred bodies compressed between two of the burnt vehicles.

He added that some workers of one of the affected motor companies lost their lives, including a conductor, Chukwu Ohaneche, attached to the bus belonging to Ezenwata Motors, adding that their corpses had been deposited at a military hospital in Kano.

Tension as Hausa residents flee Onitsha

Apparently in fear of possible reprisal, following the bomb blasts in Kano, Hausa residents in Onitsha, Anambra State, fled the city, in search of protection in various security stations.

It was gathered that non-indigenes, mainly northerners, closed all their business premises in Head bridge and other parts of Onitsha to various security stations, including the 302 Artillery Regiment of the Nigerian Army, as well as Onitsha area command and central police station.

It was further observed that Hausa residents became apprehensive of reprisal from the people of Onitsha, especially from members of the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB).

A security source, who pleaded anonymity, said all security outfits in the state had mobilised to safeguard lives and properties of the northerners in the state.

Meanwhile, Kano non-indigenes traditional rorum has declared today as mourning day, to sympathise with the victims of the suicide attack.

Spokesman of the forum, Ajayi Memayetan, told this to newsmen in Kano, on Tuesday.

Mark, Ekweremadu, Moro, Aregbesola condemn attack

Senate President, David Mark, condemned the bombing in Kano, which claimed scores of lives and properties.

Also, the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, described the attack as “incogruent with Nigerian cultures and religious faiths.”

Senator Mark frowned on the renewed violence at a time Nigerians were heaving sigh of relief that the killings, largely perpetrated by the Boko Haram, seemed to be subsiding.

In a statement signed by his Special Adviser (Media), Mr Kola Ologbondiyan, the Senate President said “this act is condemnable. It is inhuman and barbaric.”

He sympathised with victims of the bomb blast and prayed God “to heal our land.”

Ekweremadu described the incessant terrorist attacks as “callous, ungodly, atrocious, and incongruent with Nigerian cultures and religious faiths.”

Condemning the Monday bomb attacks in a strong term, he called on the security agencies to fish out the masterminds of the bomb attack.

Minister of Interior, Abba Moro, condemned the bomb blast and killings of innocent Nigerians at Sabon Gari, in Kano State, describing the attack as callous, unwarranted and wicked.

Moro, in a statement signed by his Special Assistant on Media, Mr George Udoh, said he was pained when he heard the news of the unprovoked attack and killings of innocent Nigerians by members of a dastardly sect.

He said he was particularly worried that that the sect had chosen to tread the path of violence, by making life miserable and agonising for Nigerians.

He condoled with the families of the victims of the bomb blast and government and people of Kano State, adding that “we must collectively, without bias, condemn the perpetrators of this evil act.”

Osun State governor, Mr Rauf Aregbesola, described the development as heartless, inhuman and barbaric.

He tasked the security agents and government to do more in ensuring effective protection and safety of lives and property of Nigerians, including foreigners living in the country.

In a statement signed by his Director, Bureau of Communications and Strategy, Mr Semiu Okanlawon, Aregbesola said the mindless killing of defenceless citizens represented an act against humanity and God.

He affirmed that that under no reason whatsoever should anyone or group take the lives of fellow human beings.

He, however, commiserated with the families of the dead in the bomb attack, praying for the repose of the dead souls, just as he also prayed for the speedy recovery for other victims who are in the hospital.

APGA condemns attack, opposes amnesty for Boko Haram

The All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) condemned the terrorists’ attack on luxury buses in Kano.

In a statement on Tuesday, the national youth leader of the party, Mr Okpara Ferguson, described the attack as “outrageous, barbaric and wicked.”

He said the party was “deeply pained that thousands of innocent Nigerians had been killed in the recent past by Boko Haram suicide bombers, taking away lives they did not create.

“We are further outraged that key elements in our society up North, rather than help stamp out these social vermin, continue to pander to them, by making suggestions that edify their heinous activities.

“We, therefore, fully support the resolve of the Federal Government not to give any amnesty to these messengers of death, but to go all out and bring them to justice. They must have no safe haven and they must not be allowed any respite.”

Ndigbo threatens to drag Northern govs to World Court

The Igbo in Nigeria and in the diaspora is sad about the sustained killing of Igbo extraction in the northern Nigeria, as the World Ndigbo Youths Council International (WNYCI) condemned the killing of Igbo sons and daughters in Kano.

President-General of the group, Ndubuisi Igwekana, in a chat with Nigerian Tribune in Enugu, said members would recourse to taking the northern governments to the World Court, in the event of their failure to arrest the trend of killing of Igbo in the northern parts of the country.

Igwekana disclosed that Ndigbo had, from 1967 to date, lost more than two million of its people to those he described as religious bigot in the North, adding that the northern governors should be held responsible for the trend.

While lamenting last Monday’s massacre of Igbo people in Kano in the hands of the Boko Haram, the Igbo activist questioned the inability of the northern governors to provide adequate security in the region.

The development, he said, was contrary to the peaceful co-existence of the Hausa-Fulani extraction in the South where, he said, state governors had continued to maintain peace for the cohabitation of all ethnic groups in the region.