A man lost four sons to the Monday multiple explosions that rocked Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, Daily Trust learnt yesterday.
The blasts, which occurred at the gate of the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital (UMTH), the Monday Market roundabout and the Post Office area, left about 27 people dead and many others injured.
A trader, Usman Lawan, yesterday narrated how his neighbour, Ba Musa, who lives at Gwange Sabon Layi, lost four sons to the incident.
He said the deceased children were caught up in the explosion when they went to buy eyeglasses for the Sallah celebration.
Speaking during Vice President Kashim Shettima’s visit to the UMTH, he said: “We finished our Iftar, and I was pushing my fruit-cart when the blast happened, I just found myself at the hospital. I lost everything to that attack.
“He bought them new clothes and shoes, and they came to our place to buy eyeglasses for Sallah celebrations. The blast killed all of them. They were buried yesterday,” he said.
A security guard at the hospital, who sustained injuries on his arms and legs, told the BBC how the incident unfolded.
“I was sitting outside the hospital when three people arrived on a motorbike. I noticed something suspicious and asked them to leave. They returned a second time, and when I refused to let them in, they threw a food container at me. It hit my hand and fell to the ground, threatening to explode. I lay down and heard a loud noise. As I tried to run inside, another container exploded and struck my leg,” he said.
“The bomb went off outside the hospital like a palm tree. Many others died,” he added.
Another survivor, a woman who lost her daughter in the blast, said: “We had just arrived at the hospital when the bomb went off. I fell, and my daughter fell lifeless. Her head exploded. They brought me inside and told me she was gone. I prayed to God because He took her. Her father died when she was five months old.”
Petty traders caught in the multiple bomb blasts also spoke from their hospital beds in Maiduguri.
Some of them were admitted at the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital (UMTH), Specialist Hospital and Umaru Shehu Hospital, Maiduguri.
“Unless something is done to help us get our businesses back on track, most of us will be frustrated even when we recover,” said one of the traders, Alhaji Bashir, who is a patient at UMTH.
“Like this my friend, he relies solely on daily sales to feed his family, and suddenly this thing happened to him. Think about his family and his other responsibilities as a father.
“Now the blasts, in a few minutes destroyed his life savings and livelihood,” he said.
Daily Trust