The tragic explosion that occurred in Nyanya Motor Park early Monday morning killing 71 people and leaving 124 others critically injured in several hospitals in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) has left many people sore, bitter, sad and scared.
According to witnesses, the bombing occurred at 6.55 am when a car heavily wired with improvised explosive devices (IEDS) detonated and sent fire flying everywhere. The witnesses said four people drove the car in to the bus station, alighted from it and began running away. Before people could understand what was going on the car exploded. Scores died immediately. Some died on the way to the hospital while many others died while receiving treatment. Nineteen luxury buses belonging to the FCT and 24 privately-owned commercial vehicles were also damaged beyond repairs.
Counting the dead
On the way to Asokoro General Hospital, 27 of the victims died. Chief Medical Director of the hospital, Ahmadu Abubakar confirmed that they were dead on arrival while 25 others are still in the intensive care unit.
Out of the over 41 rushed to Maitama General hospital, Chief Medical Director of the hospital, Dr. Adetoun Sotimehin confirmed that 14 were dead on arrival while 27 are in critical conditions but responding to treatment.
At the National Hospital Abuja, 30 bodies were confirmed to have been taken to the mortuary, while 40 of those injured were receiving treatment for injuries sustained.
PDP-APC finger-pointing
While many were still in shock and mourning mood, some others immediately began pointing accusing fingers at each other.
The People’s Democratic Party (PDP), through its national publicity secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh asserted that such things do not just happen unless they are politically motivated.
“Desperate persons who seek to undermine and discredit the present administration and make the nation ungovernable for President Goodluck Jonathan by instituting a reign of terror against the people”, PDP said in a statement released on Monday.
Metuh expressed the party’s shock and grief since it received the news of the gruesome attack and killing of Nigerians pursuing their legitimate endeavours. PDP also blamed the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) for the attack that claimed scores of lives.
“The PDP weeps. We are indeed grief-stricken. Our hearts go out to the bereaved, especially those who have been orphaned and widowed and those now deprived of their bread winners by this evil act”, a part of the statement read.
“We share in their pain, their anguish and their loss and pray that those behind their grief must not escape justice”.
Stating that the attacks cannot be justified under any guise, PDP maintained that the attackers are politically motivated and can be traced to the utterances and comments of desperate persons who seek to undermine and discredit the present administration and make the nation ungovernable for President Goodluck Jonathan by instituting a reign of terror against the people.
“We stand by our earlier statements that these attacks on our people are politically motivated by unpatriotic persons, especially those in the APC, who have been making utterances and comments, promoting violence and blood-letting as a means of achieving political control.
“Nigerians are also aware of utterances by certain APC governors which have been aimed at undermining our security forces and emboldening insurgents against the people.
“Those who have been promoting violence through their utterances can now see the monster they have created. They can now see the end product of their comments; a country flowing daily with the blood of the innocent.
“The question is; how do they feel when they see the mangled and blood-soaked bodies of their victims? How do they feel when they hear the voices of the dying and the injured?
“Of course they feel nothing. Their hearts have been hardened and they are embittered by the fact that they have been rejected by the people. They are bitter because the people have chosen to rally round the government they love and voted for; but must they choose the path of violence and bloodletting as a response to the wishes and aspiration of the people?” the statement queried.
Urging all well meaning Nigerians to stand up and join President Goodluck Jonathan in his untiring efforts to check terrorism in the country, the PDP cautioned those fuelling the attacks to retrace their steps, rid themselves of bitterness and desperation, and seek forgiveness from God.
The party, which said it remains in solidarity with the people, also shelved all official engagements while praying to God to grant the bereaved the fortitude to bear the loss.
APC’s reply
Meanwhile, the All Progressives Congress (APC) also condemned the atrocious bomb blast, urging the Federal Government to urgently convene a national stakeholders’ security summit to help find a lasting solution to the spate of mindless killings in the country.
In a statement issued in Lagos on Monday by its interim national publicity secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party expressed shock and sadness at the savagery of the attack, while condoling with the families of those killed and praying for a quick recovery for the injured.
APC stated that it is now obvious that all efforts so far to tackle the insurgency in the country have not yielded much fruits, meaning that the PDP-led Federal Government lacks the capacity and has clearly run out of ideas on how to tackle the violence.
“It is time for new thinking, new ideas, to stop this insurgency before it consumes all of us. The attack, right on the outskirts of Abuja, which has been spared this kind of spectacular strike since 2011 means those behind it are getting bolder and bolder, and it’s time to stop them”, the party said.
It said that in the interest of the nation and in the spirit of bipartisanship, it is willing and ready to be part of any positive efforts to end the daily loss of lives and the damage to property that seem to have hit a new high since the beginning of this year. It also described as despicable, PDP’s attempt to trivialise a very serious issue and make the opposition the fall guy for its own egregious failure.
“The PDP and the government it leads at the centre should realize that this issue is beyond politics and partisanship, and should reach out to other stakeholders to help find a way to end the insurgency that has now defied all measures, including a state of emergency.
“Trying to blame the opposition for the attack, as the harebrained PDP has irresponsibly done even when the bodies of the victims are still lying in the morgue, cannot advance a genuine push to end the insurgency”, the party said.
It wondered whether the PDP’s ignoble accusation is part of a sinister motive to call the dog a bad name just to hang it.
“PDP is so desperate that it will stop at nothing to plunge Nigeria into chaos just to achieve its objective of clinging to power at all costs. Its baseless and infantile accusation, at a time of great national pain, may be a ploy to instigate a clampdown against the opposition”, APC said, calling on “all our members, and indeed all the good people of Nigeria, to be vigilant in the days ahead”.
Red Alert
While the blame-trading was ongoing, security agents were crawling the whole FCT in response to the dastardly act. CSP Frank Mba, the Police Force spokesman, after giving details of what the Police now know about the occurrence, advised everyone to be alert too.
“The FCT Police are already on red alert; security in and around Abuja is being strengthened; we are paying very close attention to all vulnerable points. We are also paying close attention to motor parks. We advise the public to avoid unnecessary huge crowd. We are also paying close attention to government buildings”, he said.
Mr Abba Moro, Nigeria’s interior minister, while visiting the injured in Wuse General Hospital, condoled with all Nigerians, especially those who lost their family members in the blast. He urged Nigerians to pray for those who were either killed or injured in the Nyanya bombing. rather than assume figures of the dead or injured.