Portraits of Kaduna blast victims

The thunderous sound of the explosion was heard in most parts of the Kaduna metropolis. Soon after the heavy blast, a thick, dark smoke billowed into the skyline of the city. While those who were trapped in the blast ran for safety, other curious residents rushed to the scene to witness for themselves the unfolding […]

The thunderous sound of the explosion was heard in most parts of the Kaduna metropolis. Soon after the heavy blast, a thick, dark smoke billowed into the skyline of the city. While those who were trapped in the blast ran for safety, other curious residents rushed to the scene to witness for themselves the unfolding tragedy.

The explosion, which was caused by a bomb-laden car that blew up, occurred at a popular T-junction by Sardauna Crescent, a few meters away from the Ahmadu Bello Stadium. The city of Kaduna, according to some residents, has never witnessed a more potentially lethal blast because it happened right in the city centre, leaving many people dead. The casualty could have been worse.

Minutes after the explosion, several charred bodies, some burnt beyond recognition, littered the scene just as the explosion dug a large crater in the middle of the paved Junction Road.

Sa’adu Tanko

Sa’adu Tanko, an Okada rider, was waiting for passengers in the scorching sun when he saw an ash-coloured Honda Accord (End of Discussion) car blaring frantically in a traffic gridlock. His attention wavered from the trapped driver of the Honda Accord when a woman came over and asked him to take her to Katsina Road. But barely few minutes after leaving the scene on his way down to the roundabout with his passenger Tanko heard a thunderous explosion.

“That was how Allah saved me,” he said, recalling the tragic Easter Sunday bomb explosion in the city that left scores of people dead and many injured. “When I came back to the scene,” he continued, “I couldn’t stand the horrible sight and because of that I just went home.”

Tanko now mourns the loss of a dear friend, Ja’afaru Mai Shayi, who is a popular tea seller with most of the Okada riders stationed at that side of the road. “The tea joint brought together many people from different places,” he said. “We are saddened by Jafaru Mai Shayi’s death because most of us who are in the Okada business here at Junction Road take our breakfast at his tea joint. He was full of life before the incident not knowing that death was lurking very close by. Jafaru lived at Kabala Road, Kaduna and he has a wife and children.”

Tanko said it would be difficult to ascertain the identities of most of the Okada riders who lost their lives at Junction Road because many of them killed by the blast came there to wash their motorcycles. They were not permanently stationed at the spot.

“The car exploded on the main road. There is a place where our colleagues from different parts of the city visit to wash their motorcycles. Most of those who died were those washing their motorcycles and they don’t operate from this station,” he said. Many other Okada riders have been taken to the hospital after sustaining injuries. Tanko said two of his friends Mandara and Auwalu are now at Salamat Hospital being treated for injury from the explosion. “They all live in Tudun Wada, Kaduna and they are into the Okada business,” Tanko said.

Lawal Mai Junction

Lawal Mai Junction sells engine oil very close to the scene of the blast. Still recovering from the aftershocks of the blast, he said he can’t explain how he survived.

“I was trapped to the point that I couldn’t run because everywhere was dark,” he said. “The dark smoke that emanated from the scene of the blast was so thick. I don’t know how I survived with only minor injuries.” Some of Lawal’s friends whom he named as Jamilu Babba, Nura Mai Zazzau and Isuhu are right now receiving treatment at the hospital. “I am the head of this junction where the explosion occurred,” he said. As the head of the junction, Lawal plays a leadership role that includes arbitration between the people who ply their business there and representation whenever government officials come over for one purpose or the other. “Most of our people here were lucky to have survived with injuries,” he said trying to draw some consolation. The busy junction meanwhile remains a ghost of its former self as everyone is keeping away.

Augustine Vincent

Augustine Vincent is one of the lucky survivors of the blast who is still counting his blessings. Presently admitted at the Saint Gerald’s Hospital where he is receiving treatment, he said he barely managed to escape with his life when the bomb-laden car exploded just some few metres away from him killing the Okada man who was giving him a ride.

“The car just exploded in front of me,” he said. “I was just lucky to escape with injuries because we were riding in between the moving suicide car and a CRV that was completely destroyed by the explosion. But the Okada driver was not that lucky because he died.”

Dije Mai Danwake

For Malama Dije Mai Danwake and her two daughters, their escape was something miraculous. “We were very close to where the car exploded, serving Danwake (a local bean delicacy) to my customers,” Dije said. “My two daughters were assisting me. All of a sudden, we heard the sound of the heavy explosion. That was all I can remember because I only found myself on the hospital bed. Some child beggars who were waiting for the left-over food of my customers were also affected by the blast but I don’t know whether they survived the blast or if they are dead. But I recall that there were about 10 of them waiting.”

Despite the trauma of the experience, Dije said she would be returning   to her business. She said  “death can come at anytime and anywhere. I thank Allah that I survived, but that would not stop me from carrying on with my business as that is the way I earn a living.”

Ibrahim Musa

Ibrahim Musa, 18, is a victim of the blast who lost his life. Musa is a staff of the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE). Musa Haruna, his father, who is also the Ward Head of Ja’afaru Estate, Kabala Costain, Kaduna, said his nephew was however lucky to escape with severe injuries.

Recounting how his son and nephew were trapped, Haruna said, “My nephew, Aminu Muhammad Zakari, 22, is a second year medical laboratory student of Bayero University, Kano (BUK). Together with my son, who was a staff of NBTE, they left home that faithful morning to Tudun Wada on a motorcycle to collect a rug for our mosque, which was taken there for washing.

“They were both caught in the middle of the bomb blast immediately they negotiated the Sardauna Crescent Junction, heading towards Stadium roundabout. My son, Ibrahim, died on the spot, while Aminu was rushed with other victims to Saint Gerald’s Hospital and was later transferred to the Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Shika, Zaria because of the severity of the injury that affected his face.

“Ibrahim’s body was taken to Barau Dikko Hospital where he was pronounced dead and we later recovered his body, which was buried according to Islamic rites. We have left everything to Allah and we are praying to Him to forgive Ibrahim while wishing Aminu quick recovery.”

Detective Corporal Francis Marcus

The account of the incident given by the Kaduna State Commissioner for police, Muhammad Jinjiri Abubakar, showed that the driver of the bomb-laden car had attempted to enter an ECWA Church before he was stopped by a police detective, Corporal Francis Marcus.

“The two vehicles were pursued by Detective Corporal Francis Marcus, and then suddenly one of the vehicles hit the other, thereby causing a serious explosion between the two vehicles on Junction Road by Sardauna Crescent,” said the commissioner. “It was amazing to me when I read in some newspapers that the blast had damaged some churches and hotels. No church was affected as all the churches around the area were far away from the scene of the blast.

“Corporal Marcus was posted to the ECWA Church. In the process of stop and search, he stopped the suspected bomber and challenged him to identify himself and when he couldn’t identify himself, he sent the suspected bomber back. Detective Marcus immediately communicated to our control room that he has seen somebody who he suspects of carrying something questionable. He requested our control room to arrange to intercept him for searching while he began to chase the vehicles. It is in the process of chasing the vehicles that the escaping vehicle in front exploded. Marcus is not a security guard at the ECWA Church,” CP Abubakar said.

Uneasy calm in Kaduna

News of the explosion caused panic among the residents of Kaduna State, largely because the explosion is the third of its kind in recent time. As at the time of filing this report, no group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack.

Meanwhile, the actual number of casualties from the blast has government officials from the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), Kaduna, the police and the leadership of the Achaba Union coming up with conflicting figures. While the Kaduna State Commissioner of Police, Muhammad Jinjiri Abubakar, is saying that only 11 people lost their lives, including the driver of the bomb-laden car, SEMA’s spokesperson, Adamu Zakari, has confirmed the death of 16 people. On the other hand, Mallam Mamman Daura, the deputy chairman of the Achaba Union in Kaduna State, said they have so far compiled the names of 22 Okada riders who were affected by the blast. This is aside other victims.

Weekly Trust could report that presently, not less than 30 people are receiving treatment at different hospitals in Kaduna. At the Saint Gerald hospital, two people are receiving treatment while 14 are in 44 Army Reference Hospital, Kaduna. At the Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital (ABUTH), Shika, Zaria, five people are receiving treatment while seven are in Barau Dikko Specialist Hospital. This is aside those who were treated and discharged as well as those who sustained minor injuries and did not bother to visit the hospital.  The Kaduna State government, according to the deputy governor, Muktar Ramalan Yero, has disbursed the sum of N3.6m to foot the medical bills of the affected victims.

For now, the question on the lips of residents of Kaduna State, indeed most states in the north affected by bomb blasts, is when will this dastardly campaign of death and destruction end?