Kaduna Bomb: Igbo Traders Count Losses.
After yesterday’s bomb blast that killed 14 persons and injured several others at Ogbomoso, by Katsina Road, Kaduna, Kaduna State, Northwest Nigeria, the survivors have started counting their losses.
The bomb blast, according to witnesses was carried out by two suspected bombers alleged to be members of the dreaded Islamic sect, Boko Haram.
The suspected bombers were on a motorcycle when they threw a bag containing devices suspected to be bomb into a shop.
Immediately, a heavy explosion rocked the area, pulling down the targetted shop.
All the four apprentice spare parts traders inside the shop were killed instantly.
The state Commissioner of Police, Ballah Narasawa, however, disagreed with this account of the incident. He told newsmen at the scene of the blast that it was caused by a gas explosion.
The scene this morning, the survivors and witnesses insisted that it was a bomb blast. They stated that the traders in the area do not sell gas but deal in motor spare parts.
One of the survivors, Fabian Ugochukwu lost three colleagues to the explosion, his boss and two apprentices.
He expressed displeasure over the police report that the blast was caused by gas explosion.
Ugochukwu said: “How can it be gas explosion when the entire Ori Apata area vibrated and over 14 people were killed over 100 metres away from the scene.”
Another survivor who is the Chairman of Ogbomoso Road Traders Association, Sunday Mba, told P.M.NEWS that not less than N200 million worth of property was destroyed and cash worth N20 million burnt. These records, Mba said, were gathered from survivors yesterday and this morning.
Mba also confirmed that 12 spare parts traders and two other tenants residing in houses behind the affected shops were killed in the blast.
A shop apprentice, Abdul Malik Ayodele wept as he narrated how his boss was killed in the fire that erupted following the blast.
Ayodele said: “I have no other means of survival. My boss is dead. I lost four other friends who died in the explosion. It is only God that will punish the bombers.”
One of the traders who lost about N10 million in spare parts to the explosion, Sunday Azubuogwu, a dealer in Mercedes Benz spare parts said he was lucky to escape the blast.
“Though I lost more than N10 million in goods which I received on credit from a spare parts distributor two days before the incident, I have reasons to thank God for my life,” Azubuogwu said.
He lamented what he described as unnecessary attack on Igbo traders in Kaduna, adding, “even when the state government decides to compensate all those who lost their goods and friends in the bomb blast, the traders within Ori Apata can never be psychologically stable because we saw our brothers burnt to death and there was nothing we could do.”
Though Kamarudeen Ibrahim and his younger brother, Suleiman Ibrahim, reside behind the Igbo traders shop along Ogbomoso Road, about 20 metres away from the scene of the blast, they expressed shock at the attack on the traders.
They lamented that they lost a brother and a sister who were trapped inside the fire at their residence close to the traders’ shops.
Another victim who simply identified himself as Ifeanyi, younger brother of Onyebuchi, whose shop was directly attacked, said he was sent on an errand by his late brother when he heard the bang.
Ifeanyi narrated: “My brother had spare parts worth nothing less than N15 million because he was dealing in Mercedes Benz spare parts. All the goods and the shop were completely destroyed.”
Ifeanyi, a trader who hails from Anambra State in southeast Nigeria said he was left with no option but to return to his state.
As at the time of filing this report, the police have started clearing the debris at the scene of the blast.
The bomb blast, according to witnesses was carried out by two suspected bombers alleged to be members of the dreaded Islamic sect, Boko Haram.
The suspected bombers were on a motorcycle when they threw a bag containing devices suspected to be bomb into a shop.
Immediately, a heavy explosion rocked the area, pulling down the targetted shop.
All the four apprentice spare parts traders inside the shop were killed instantly.
The state Commissioner of Police, Ballah Narasawa, however, disagreed with this account of the incident. He told newsmen at the scene of the blast that it was caused by a gas explosion.
The scene this morning, the survivors and witnesses insisted that it was a bomb blast. They stated that the traders in the area do not sell gas but deal in motor spare parts.
One of the survivors, Fabian Ugochukwu lost three colleagues to the explosion, his boss and two apprentices.
He expressed displeasure over the police report that the blast was caused by gas explosion.
Ugochukwu said: “How can it be gas explosion when the entire Ori Apata area vibrated and over 14 people were killed over 100 metres away from the scene.”
Another survivor who is the Chairman of Ogbomoso Road Traders Association, Sunday Mba, told P.M.NEWS that not less than N200 million worth of property was destroyed and cash worth N20 million burnt. These records, Mba said, were gathered from survivors yesterday and this morning.
Mba also confirmed that 12 spare parts traders and two other tenants residing in houses behind the affected shops were killed in the blast.
A shop apprentice, Abdul Malik Ayodele wept as he narrated how his boss was killed in the fire that erupted following the blast.
Ayodele said: “I have no other means of survival. My boss is dead. I lost four other friends who died in the explosion. It is only God that will punish the bombers.”
One of the traders who lost about N10 million in spare parts to the explosion, Sunday Azubuogwu, a dealer in Mercedes Benz spare parts said he was lucky to escape the blast.
“Though I lost more than N10 million in goods which I received on credit from a spare parts distributor two days before the incident, I have reasons to thank God for my life,” Azubuogwu said.
He lamented what he described as unnecessary attack on Igbo traders in Kaduna, adding, “even when the state government decides to compensate all those who lost their goods and friends in the bomb blast, the traders within Ori Apata can never be psychologically stable because we saw our brothers burnt to death and there was nothing we could do.”
Though Kamarudeen Ibrahim and his younger brother, Suleiman Ibrahim, reside behind the Igbo traders shop along Ogbomoso Road, about 20 metres away from the scene of the blast, they expressed shock at the attack on the traders.
They lamented that they lost a brother and a sister who were trapped inside the fire at their residence close to the traders’ shops.
Another victim who simply identified himself as Ifeanyi, younger brother of Onyebuchi, whose shop was directly attacked, said he was sent on an errand by his late brother when he heard the bang.
Ifeanyi narrated: “My brother had spare parts worth nothing less than N15 million because he was dealing in Mercedes Benz spare parts. All the goods and the shop were completely destroyed.”
Ifeanyi, a trader who hails from Anambra State in southeast Nigeria said he was left with no option but to return to his state.
As at the time of filing this report, the police have started clearing the debris at the scene of the blast.
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