SAVED BY PROVIDENCE : How woman, daughter survived Abuja bomb blast ... TribuneNews

WITH the police announcing an increase in casualty figure in Thursday evening’s bomb blast in Nyanya, Abuja, injured survivors of the incident told newsmen their escape stories from their hospital beds on Friday.
One of the victims at the Nyanya General Hospital, Mrs Angela Onwukwa, said she was selling bread by the roadside with her daughter when she heard the explosion.
“I was thrown off my feet, thereby sustaining injuries on my left leg and left hand, while my daughter had a wound on her right hand by the elbow,” Onwukwa said.
Joseph Ogbeche, another victim and an applicant, said he was standing by the roadside waiting for a taxi on his way to see his sister when he heard the explosion.
He further told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the sound of the explosion lifted him up, making him to fall on his side and making him to sustain leg and hand injuries.
Miss Monica James, who operates a salon at Mararaba, said she was on her way home when the blast occurred, adding that the splinters from the explosion lodged in her legs.
When NAN visited the Asokoro General Hospital, the Chief Medical Director, Dr Abubakar Ahmadu, refused to talk on the situation of the victims at the hospital.
He, however, said the FCT administration would talk after a report might have been compiled.
An online portal, Newspot also quoted an eyewitness, a civil servant, who said he escaped the bomb explosion by luck, saying he saw the Volkwagen Golf car used for the attack when it sped past him and others in a public transport, half a kilometre from the Mararaba end of Nyanya-Abuja highway.
According to him, not quite two minutes after the Golf car sped past them, the huge explosion occurred sending everyone around the area into panic.
He said, “We were coming from Mararaba going to AYA Junction and this car just sped off. Shortly after the car got ahead of us, the bomb exploded.
“From a far distance, we saw a billow of fire high up in the sky a split second after the explosion, meaning that the explosion threw up the car and crash landed it.
“What we learnt later was that the car was held up in a traffic jam at the scene of the incident and could not advance before it exploded. The traffic jam was caused by a military check some 500 metres ahead towards the Abuja end.
“Truly, we all suspected that the car was rushing towards the military barracks at Nyanya, given the manner it was speeding. The idea was that since it got held up in the traffic, the disaster must occur. It is so unfortunate.”
Dr Frank Idegwu, the Medical Director, Nyanya General Hospital in Abuja, on Friday said four victims of Thursday’s explosion at Nyanya were on admission at the hospital.
Idegwu also told NAN that more than 20 other victims had been moved from the hospital to other hospitals for special attention.
He listed the hospitals to include the National Hospital in Abuja, as well as the General Hospitals in the city’s Asokoro and Maitama districts.
The medical director said that the Nyanya hospital served as a transit point, where the victims of the explosion were given first aid treatment before being moved to bigger hospitals.
Idegwu said the condition of the four victims at Nyanya General Hospital had stabilised and that they could be discharged any moment from now.
“Their health situation did not show any sign of serious injury,” he said.
The medical director said the two bodies deposited at the hospital had been moved to another hospital for embalmment.
Meanwhile, Alhaji Mohammad Sani-Sidi, the Director-General of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), has expressed satisfaction with the care being given to victims of the Nyanya bomb blast.
Sani-Sidi, who visited the victims receiving treatment at the Asokoro General Hospital, also commended the efforts of the hospital personnel.
“Most of the victims have been stabilised and we are impressed that the doctors are doing everything possible to ensure that they are given the best treatment,” he said.
The NEMA official said more than 60 victims of the bomb blast were receiving treatment in various hospitals in the FCT.
Sani-Sidi, who did not make any commitment on the hospital bills of the victims, said six of them were receiving treatment at the Asokoro hospital.
Meanwhile, national and international condemnation on Friday greeted the Thursday evening terrorist bomb attack on the Nyanya community in Abuja, Nigeria’s Federal Capital – the second in two weeks – by suspected members of the Boko Haram Islamic sect.
US condemns blast
The United States government, on Friday, in a statement by its Consulate-General in Lagos, said: “This attack is not only on innocent people but on a democratic nation itself. Lawless violence and intimidation have no place in a democracy.”
It also commiserated with the families of those that died and those injured in the blast.
“Our thoughts are with the families and loved ones of those who were killed or injured in this heinous act. This attack is not only on innocent people but on a democratic nation itself. Lawless violence and intimidation have no place in a democracy,” it said.
The statement said that the US government would continue to stand with the Nigerian government and peoples as they faced the threat of violent extremism.
19 killed, 60 injured —Police
The Nigeria Police on Friday confirmed that 19 people died and 60 others injured in the blast.
Police spokesman, CSP Frank Mba, confirmed the figure at a news conference at Nyanya, the scene of the incident.
The spokesperson of the Department of State Services (DSS), Marilyn Ogar, and an official of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) attended the briefing.
Mba said that six others, apart from the 60 injured, had been treated and discharged.
He also said three unexploded Improvise Explosive Devices (IEDs) were recovered from the scene, and had been diffused.
“Investigations are ongoing and we appeal to the citizens to rally round the security forces at this critical point in our history. It will take the unity of all of us to defeat terror,” Mba said.
He declined comments on whether any arrest had been made.
“I will not speak at this stage on ongoing investigations but investigations are ongoing, and we will give facts when it is right to do so,” he said,
Also, Ms Ogar said the cooperation of all Nigerians was required to win the war against terrorism.
“We must take our security into our hands because the security agencies cannot do it all alone. It must be collective. The call here is for all Nigerians to rally round security agencies. It is not a time to say they are not doing what they are supposed to do.
“The number of security personnel in the country is very small compared to the population. Rally round us through information. No information is useless,” Ogar appealed.
Mba had earlier given a casualty figure of 12 dead and 19 wounded on Thursday, shortly after the explosion. He, however, described those figures as “provisional.”
PDP: Unite against terrorism
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Friday urged all Nigerians to jettison all parochial interests and join forces with government by exposing terrorist elements killing and maiming innocent Nigerians in their thousands.
In a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh, on Friday, the party, while condemning the latest blast, urged Nigerians to stand up in unison and fight terrorism, which it described as an evil that knows no religion or tribal coloration.
“Nigerians must realise that regular citizens have generally become targets irrespective of religious and ethnic differences, and as such, must stand and join hands with government in the fight against terrorism.
“Nigerians must realise that it is no longer about the president or the government; neither is it about government officials. All Nigerians are under attack. Ordinary people and regular citizens have remained general targets of these enemies of our country,” it said.
Free medicare for victims
The FCT Minister, Senator Bala Mohammed, has directed that free medical treatment and feeding be provided for victims of the May 1 Nyanya bomb explosion.
Mohammed gave the directive after visiting the Asokoro District Hospital on Thursday night where some of the injured victims are receiving treatment.
This was contained in a statement issued on Friday in Abuja by Mr Nosike Ogbuenyi, the Special Assistant on Media to the minister.
The minister condemned the blast, describing it as a serious emergency.
Akinjide condemns blast
Reacting to the development, the Minister of State, Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Chief Olajumoke Akinjide; and the Abuja Youths Association condemned the attack in strong terms.
Mrs. Akinjide, in a statement by her media aide, Adeyemi Adedeji, said the FCT administration was grieved over the loss of lives in the incident and assured Nigerians that the government would do everything within its powers to put an end to the insurgency.
Security beefed up in Abuja, environs
Meanwhile, security has been beefed up in Abuja and its environs following the blast.
As of Friday, all the entry points into the city centre were manned by stern-looking and gun-wielding soldiers who also randomly stopped and searched vehicles.
Armed policemen and soldiers were also stationed at strategic locations within and outside the FCT, while there was also heavy presence of armed security forces at the various mosques, especially the Abuja Central Mosques where very important personalities normally worship on Fridays.