Hycent Nwafor sells vehicle spare parts in one of the shops in Oriakpata in the heart of Kaduna, which was devastated by a mysterious explosion yesterday. Nwafor recalled how the explosion occurred.
He said:”My shop is adjacent the place that the explosion took place, I sell spare parts. We just heard a loud noise and all of a sudden, we started seeing fire and smoke everywhere. I know that so many people died. Some of the victims have been evacuated to the hospital.”
Sunday Okafor, a spare parts seller, said he was with four other colleagues when the incident occurred, but he was the only one who came out alive.
Okafor said: “We were standing this morning discussing, until we heard a sound, I had to crawl for escape just to discover that they four other people died instantly. There are still some people trapped inside. Some people came on a motorcycle and started asking questions, they were holding something and all of a sudden what they were holding exploded with their machine, the two of them scattered immediately.”
Another eyewitness, Abdulwaheed Oyewumi, who works as a mechanic in the area, said he became aware of the explosion when he saw somebody burning and running.
“From my shop, I saw somebody running and burning and people started pouring water on the man, so, we ran to discover that some shops were in flames and shortly after, we heard a sound of explosion,” Oyewunmi recalled.
It was a loud sound that made Emeka Udoji, an auto parts seller, realised he was not going to be able to carry on with the business of the day.
Udoji debunked claims that the explosion was, perhaps, caused by a gas cylinder. He said: “The blast occurred at the back of my shop. There are people living at the back of my shop; no one sells batteries or gas cylinder around here. From my experience and what I saw, there is nothing like explosion of gas or battery. This is bomb explosion.”
For Sunday Anyigbobu, he was discussing the death of veteran actor Sam Loco when he realised the area was on siege. He kept his hands on his head and the ceiling of his shop caved in on him.
Anyigbobu said: “I entered the shop and the guy gave me N1,000 and we were discussing Sam Loco’s death, and I went outside and before I knew what was happening a just heard a sound, and I kept my hands on my head and the whole ceiling fell on me and I managed to escape but the guy I was talking to before I was going out, I am not sure he is alive because he was still inside as I was making my way outside. He is my brother who I went to give change. The explosion was outside the shop. I did not see anybody apart from the small boys that I saw burnt. I have been calling the guy’s number but his number is not going. I can confirm the death of three people, one Igbo and two Hausa people living inside the compound. The Igbo’s name is Ebuka. Inside the shop there is no battery, I sell Peugeot parts and he sells truck parts. There is nothing explosive in the shops. This occurred in front of my shop though I cannot say precisely the exact time but it was in the morning. About three people died.”
But Police Commissioner Ballah Nasarawa believes there is no need to suspect any foul play. He said the incident occurred in a shop where they sell batteries and gas. Nasarawa said: “It is a sad incident. As at now, we are not suspecting any foul play, you can see that the fire is still burning, but if you observe, it is from where they sell batteries and gas; so, we are suspecting that it is an explosion from within not sabotage from outside. As at now, there are casualties but I cannot give you certain numbers until after investigations.”
Special Adviser to the Governor on Security and Coordinator, Operation Yaki Col. Dangana Mamman, stressed there is need for proper investigation before jumping into conclusion.
Mamman said: “We need to be very careful ourselves; we must make sure that we comb our environment personally. Like what has happened now, it is from somebody’s shop. He came in the morning, opened his shop and this thing happened; I cannot imagine that somebody threw something. The allegation that people came on a bike is still an allegation yet to be confirmed. This thing was inside the shop, the explosion came from the shop. It is an explosion I can confirm.”
But two eyewitnesses insisted it was a hand grenade that was thrown. Oke Oke and Fabian Ozochukwu told The Nation they saw the boys who perpetrated the act.
Oke said: “The boys came on a motor cycle with something; it was burning and they threw the substance away. They both scattered immediately and their machine got burnt. I don’t know how many people are dead now. I can’t remember any name now. I sell motor spare parts.”
Ozochukwu said: “One of the boys on the bike had his body burnt and ran down there. I don’t know whether he died or not. I can’t tell. There are two people on top of a bike. I was outside chatting and they were carrying something and that something they were carrying exploded more than five times. There were about four or five generators around there; so, immediately the thing exploded, the generators exploded also. They were passing and the thing exploded on the bike.”
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Residents relive mysterious explosion