Sorrow, tears as Abuja blast kills 89 - PUNCH

(1) Mother of a victim (2) Some of the burnt buses (3) President Goodluck Jonathan at the Asokoro General Hospital, Abuja...on Monday.
| credits: Sam Adeko and State House

A bomb attack by suspected Boko Haram members on a crowded motor park in Nyanya on Monday threw the Federal Capital Territory    into confusion.

Although security agencies put the number of the dead and the injured at 71 and 124 respectively, independent findings by our correspondents showed that at least 89 people, including three bombers died.

Two hundred and fifty seven others sustained various degrees of injury.

It was gathered that five luxury buses in the park were fully loaded when the blast occurred.

The park which is located in the heart of Nyanya, a satellite settlement bordering the FCT and Nasarawa State, is always crowded with commuters mostly civil servants and private sector workers jostling to board Abuja Mass Transit vehicles, known as El Rufai buses, because they cost less.

The explosion shattered windscreens of vehicles on the busy Nyanya highway and resulted in multiple accidents as drivers lost control of their vehicles in a bid to escape from the area.

•Four suicide bombers detonated IEDs

According to an eyewitness account, the attack was carried out by four insurgents in a Volkswagen Golf which was in the park.

It was learnt that when the bombs were detonated, the insurgents opened the car and were running away but were killed along with travellers and other residents who were rushing to their places of work.

Investigation further revealed that the explosion was a well-planned suicide attack on the FCT.

A picture of the wreckage of the   car showed one of the suicide bombers with a picture of a child believed to be his son placed on his stomach.

The dead bomber’s body also had IED wires tied to his thighs.

Security operatives and medical personnel also saw several charms on the body of the bomber.

•Shoes, bags everywhere

As of the time of filing this report, personal effects of victims of the blast were still scattered around the scene.

The items included shoes, caps, bags, identity cards and telephone handsets.

Some of the handsets were still ringing.

Security operatives were seen searching through the heap of bags apparently to be sure that no other explosives were inside.

Policemen attached to the Bomb Disposal Unit also dug up the spot at which the bomb was detonated.

Particles retrieved from the spot were kept inside big brown envelopes and moved into a waiting van.