Terrorists on Monday morning struck Nigeria’s capital city Abuja killing scores of people. The explosion which occurred at the busy Nyanya Mass Transit Park at 6.55a.m. on Monday morning is one of the biggest ever since the incessant onslaught by the Boko Haram terrorist sect began in Nigeria.
The victims were mostly people heading to work and their businesses in one of Africa’s most important city.
A commercial motorcycle rider, who gave his name as Wahad, told NAN that a man threw a bag containing the bomb into the congested park.
“I was conveying a passenger to the park this morning when I saw a man throw a big black bag into the park; the next thing I saw was explosion,’’ Wahad said.
Another eyewitness, David Lukman, however, said that the bomb was planted in a car at the park.
“I am very sure the bomb was either planted at the park last night or a suicide bomber posing as passenger entered one of the cars with it,’’ he said.
A stockbroker, Abbas Adamu, said four of his friends died in the explosion.
“I have never seen something like this in my entire life.
“My friends told me this morning that they were going to Kaduna and because I was also going to Kaduna in my car I told them to wait for me at the park so that we go together.
“But I asked them to enter the park and not wait under the bridge because road safety and VIO (Vehicle Inspection Officers) officials usually disturb along the road under the bridge.
“Seconds later, I heard a loud explosion; in fact, I can’t explain because I felt something like electric shock inside the car, and as I speak to you now, my friends are all dead,’’ Adamu said.
Meanwhile, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has confirmed the explosion, in a statement signed by its Senior Information Officer, Mr Sani Datti.
It said the explosion occurred at about 6.30 a.m. and warned residents of the area to keep off the scene of the explosion.
According to the statement, officers of the Search and Rescue department of NEMA and other response agencies had been deployed to the area. (NAN).
The number of causalities is still very much uncertain though as at 10 a.m. more than 100 victims of the blast, made up of the dead and the injured, had been deposited at the National Hospital, Mrs Rabia Labaran, an assistant information officer, at the hospital said.
