Abuja Blast: Death toll hits 19

The death toll of Thursday’s bomb blast in Nyanya, a suburb of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), has risen to 19 from 12, with 60 injured and three undetonated explosive devices recovered, government officials and security agencies said yesterday. President Goodluck Jonathan summoned all the service chiefs to an emergency security meeting at the Presidential […]

The death toll of Thursday’s bomb blast in Nyanya, a suburb of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), has risen to 19 from 12, with 60 injured and three undetonated explosive devices recovered, government officials and security agencies said yesterday. President Goodluck Jonathan summoned all the service chiefs to an emergency security meeting at the Presidential Villa, Abuja yesterday in the wake of explosion.
The closed-door meeting, which started at about 10.30am, was still ongoing at the time of filing this report. Vice President Mohammed Namadi Sambo, Secretary to the Government of the Federation Anyim Pius Anyim, National Security Adviser Sambo Dasuki, Defence Minister Aliyu Gusau and Police Affairs Minister Abduljeleel Adesiyan were all in attendance.
Police Force Public Relations Officer (FPRO), Mr. Frank Mba and his counterpart at the Directorate of State security Service (DSS), Marilyn Ogar, made this known at a joint press briefing in Abuja.
Mba said six other survivors of the blast Thursday evening, have been treated and discharged from hospital, adding that three improvised explosive devices (IED) recovered from the scene have been demobilized by the police bomb squad. “Investigations are ongoing and we appeal to the citizens to rally round the security forces at this critical point in our history,” he said.
Ogar said: “We must take our security into our hands because the security agencies cannot do it all alone, it must be collective.” She urged Nigerians to rally round security agencies and help secure the nation, adding that “the number of security personnel in the country is very small compared to the population, rally round us through information, no information is useless.’’
Mba had said Thursday night that 12 people died in the blast, while 19 were wounded.
Spokeswoman of the FCT Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Mrs. Josephine Mudasiru, said immediately after the blast, 10 corpses with 34 injured persons were taken to Asokoro District Hospital, while six were treated and discharged. She said Wuse District Hospital and National Hospital received three and six corpses, respectively.
Other injured people were taken to the Maitama District Hospital, Wuse District Hospital, National Hospital, Federal Staff Hospital, Nyanya General Hospital, Gwagwalada Hospital, Customs Clinic, Panaf Hospital and Mararaba Medical Centre.
The explosion at the Nyanya Motor Park-cum-market at about 7:10 pm, happened just metres from where a similar blast killed more than 70 people and wounded over 100 barely three weeks ago.
FCT Health and Human Services Secretary, Dr. Demola Onakomaiya, also corroborated the figure and said immediately the incident occurred, victims were rushed to the nearest hospital where they were stabilized before been distributed to other hospitals within the city.
Meanwhile a relative of a victim, who died in the blast Ahmed Jada, faulted the casualty figure and advised the government to stop playing politics with people’s misery. He said he counted about 80 corpses and wondered how government arrived at the figure nine and 12 that were released earlier.
According to him, a motorcyclist was burned along with his bike, while people inside cars were also burnt to death. “Personally, I counted 80 and I am wondering why government is playing politics with the death toll, especially in the last bomb blast that claimed over 300 lives and they put 75 as those who died,” he said.
A large number of soldiers had immediately barricaded the blast scene and denied journalists access to the place, while their superiors held meetings on how to evacuate the corpses. At Asokoro Hospital yesterday, relatives of victims were seen wailing after seeing the remains of their loved ones. A man, who lost his younger brother in the blast, called on the authorities of the FCT to ensure that psychologists were always on ground in hospitals when disasters happen to comfort relatives of victims.
Some relatives said immediately the blast occurred, they rushed to Nyanya General Hospital, which is the closest to the scene, and got cold reception. A relative said his brother was taken to the hospital and they turned down his admission, informing that he be taken to another hospital. “While still pleading that something be done to my brother, his already-damaged hand fell off,” he said.
The traffic jam on Kugbo-AYA road also hampered rescue mission as ambulances and fire fighting trucks were held in the tailback for hours before arriving at the scene.
How blast occurred
A survivor of the blast, Chijoke Ijoku, a businessman, told Weekly Trust that he took a commercial motorbike from Karu, where his shop is located, to Nyanya to board a vehicle to Area 1 in Garki. “I noticed an empty Volkswagen Golf car parked among other vehicles, while others were loading to other areas within Abuja,” he said, adding that he left to buy recharge card from a vendor and within minutes heard a loud explosion and saw the Golf car go up in flames, adding that blood started gushing out of his head and he saw people lying on the ground. “I was rushed to the hospital after the incident,” he said.
Another witness, Chief Obiora Anebike, said he was in his car when the blast occurred, then he collapsed and blacked out. “I only regained consciousness in the Asokoro Hospital, where my head injuries were treated,” he said.