By EBUN  SESSOU

One of the mysterious things that happened in the country was the bomb explosion that took place at the Ikeja Military Cantonment ten years ago, precisely January 27, 2002. Lagos  residents witnessed an unprecedented death toll when bombs went off at the Ikeja military cantonment and sent stampeding residents off to all corners .

At the end of the day, those who ran towards Ejigbo across the Oke-Afa canal were drown in the canal. Most of them, not knowing there was no  road across the canal plunged to their deaths. The situation was compounded by panicky Lagosians who kept pushing to get out of the way of what they knew not and pushed several  to their deaths .
Local divers did their best to rescue the unfortunate victims but many died before they could get help.

Over 600 Lagosians, though no official figures were given, died in that stampede and the families of victims are still stunned that either the Federal or State Government has continued to behave as if the incident never happened.

At the 10th anniversary which held at Oke-Afa area of Lagos State,  Governor Babatunde Fashola  of Lagos State  marked the anniversary of the disaster by building a commemorative wall where the names and pictures of some of the  victims were engraved.

While some parents would be compensated,  children of other victims would be awarded scholarships, and the divers who did a wonderful job of rescuing some and pulling out the dead victims from the murky waters of the Oke-Afa canal would be sent for training and given certificates to make them employable.

The affected families who lost their beloved ones believed that the the government especially the Federal ought to have owned up and compensated them  but unfortunately  had looked the other way. Even the Nigerian Army, has done next to nothing to cushion the effects of the bomb blast on the families of those that lost their lives in the unfortunate incident.

Recently, the State government under the leadership of Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola gave seventy families a sum of N250,000.00 each while others are still hoping that succour would come their way. Even those who have been given the money believed that the  money is next to nothing, saying that more than a quarter of the money have  been budgeted into the debt they have already incured.

When Saturday Vanguard visited them at the Oshodi/Isolo local government where they held their meeting, the expressions on their faces is enough to tell how they feel. Those who were present include people who have been compensated and those who haven’t been compensated. The first drama that took place was an open confrontation between one of the affected persons and the chairman of the association, Mr. Olaniran Majekodunni.

At about 4.45pm when the meeting commenced, people who have been compensated were coming out one by one to register  their presence. Each of them held a sum of N5000. as appreciation for  the Chairman of the Bomb Blast Association for a job well done. Unfortunately, an old man walked in with his money in his hand. It was a sum of N2000  to appreciate the chairman and what should be an appreciation turned into something else.

The chairman rashly accursed the old man for giving him such an unpleasant sum. It was only the intervention of other members of the house  that arrested the situation.
Mrs Matina Odeoyenma, mother of a 16 year-old boy who was killed in the blast said that although she has been compensated , she  would want the state government to be committed still in helping them especially their children actualise their dreams.

“I was forty years old when the incident happened. We are all rejoicing to the successful surgical operation that was carried out on my husband. It was the 10th day after the operation . We were living at Oshodi when this unfortunate incident happened. My husband and I had just came back from the village and went to church that Sunday morning and at 6 o’clock, we were set for  a Mass  Service at St. Jude’s Catholic Church.

“Suddenly, we heard a blast. We didn’t know what happened and all my children were gathered together in a place. We saw people trooping towards our house and one of  my children pleaded that we should join them but their daddy insisted that we should stay in-doors.

“After a while, he consented that we should join the crowd but before I could turn round, I couldn’t locate my boy. At that point, I was perplexed, I didn’t know what to do. I held their father by the hand and went in search of the boy, all to no avail. People intervened but he was nowhere to be found. We all went back to the house around 10pm believing that he would come back home.

“We reported the case at the police station. The following day, my younger brother came home and suggested we go and look for him in Oke-Afa. He went and found his corpse inside the Oke-Afa canal. He could only recognise him with the clothe that was on him. He was an SSS2 student at Ikeja Grammar School. He was my third son. I lost my first son when he was just  one year old while the second son is the only surviving boy now.

“I got married at the age of seventeen and before that blast, I’d stopped child bearing. It is unfortunate that  mysecond  boy didn’t come back. He was a boy that had vision, aspiration but it is unfortunate that death didn’t allow his vision to become a reality.

“Since the incident, my home hasn’t been settled. Our lives have been shattered. He was loved by everybody and a boy of principle. His daddy lost his sight, he is now partially blind and I have been hypertensive. My husband was involved in an accident which has resulted in the amputation of his right hand and he has lost his job.

“The second boy gained admission into Olabisi Onabanjo University but  after a year, he couldn’t continue his  studies because of the financial constraint.

“The State government gave us a sum of N250,000.00 and unfortunately, we have been spending so much in the course of this struggle. While the meeting was on, we have been funding those who were representing us at both State and Federal government levels. Since two years ago when the Ikeja Bomb blast meeting kicked off under the chairmanship of Mr. Majekodunmi, we have been contributing money at every sitting. We have been contributing for our rally, media relationship and we have spent so much money that we cannot even account for into this struggle.

Cross section of affected families

“The money given to us is not enough although we thank God and we pray that God should give the government ability to do more.  The State government has vowed to assist us in sponsoring our children on scholarship and we are looking towards such gesture. “

Sixty-two year old Godwin Ohante from Edo State said, he lost his 15 year- old son to the explosion. “When we heard the explosion at about 5pm, we didn’t know where it was coming from. Then, my family and I were living at Mofoluku and so when we heard the blasts, I told my children not to run away. I am an ex-soldier and so I instructed them to stay in one place. But when the situation got more tensed, I instructed them to stay outside.

“I was shutting my door when I discovered that my last two children had left. We started searching for them, I called my first son and told him what happened and we began searching for these children and at about 2.30a.m., one of them returned in tattered clothes with N100  in his hands.

“He said, some people who  lifted him out of the canal gave him the money to go back to his house. Then, we  went on searching for the other boy but we couldn’t find him. He was 15 years old. I lost my wife in the process and so it affected the rest of the children. I am a security guard and so I managed to send the remaining six children to secondary school”.

When asked what he is planing to use the money given to him by the State government to do, he said, “I will have to sit with the children and plan how the money will be judiciously spent. I have lost my job and the only child that is helping the family financially has also lost her job.

“She was the person paying my house rent. The other child who is equally assisting with his minor job is also limited. So, the money is not enough. Before this compensation came up, I’ve been indebted with the sum of N21,000.00 due to the  on-going meeting. We have been instructed to pay money to the CLO lawyers who are into the struggle with us. We are still going to pay  .

Right now, I have to pay the sum of N8,500.00. I am not satisfied with the money given by the state government because N250,000 cannot bring my child back to life. But, we thank God that our struggle is not in vain. Two years ago, only five people started the struggle. Then, I was instructed to go to Mafoluku in search of other affected people. I was going to their houses before we could get 70 people who were affected. The first batch list was submitted to the Office of the Public Defender, OPD, which was later taken to State government for compensation”.

While some people have been compensated, others who haven’t been given any monetary support also expressed their satisfaction towards the way the issue was treated. One of them, was Mr. Babatunde Noah, a freelance journalist
According to him, “I have lost properties and a child to the explosion. My child was ten years. I got to know about the meeting the same day some people were compensated. I never knew about the meeting and I haven’t gotten any monetary support.

“Some people have been paid while some haven’t. Those who have been paid are those who were aware of the meeting before the compensation while those who haven’t been paid are much more in number. Those who haven’t gotten compensation whatsoever are in its large number and we believe that the State government is responsive and responsible to look into the cases of others who haven’t been compensated. We should work towards ensuring  others are compensated for peace to reign.”

Joseph Eheme from Edo
State, said, he was told to pay money before he could be registered as one of the affected persons. “I was told to register for the second batch. But, I argued that all the names of the affected persons should be sent at once while some disagreed that the compilation of the list is in batches. They told us that the first batch has been completed and would be compensated soon and that we should wait for the second batch.

“I lost my second son and it was the same year the boy was to have finished his secondary school education. He was 18 years old and a captain of a group at St. Jude’s Catholic church. That day, he rushed into the house and said he was going for his training because he was the captain of the group in the church. He  took a slice of yam and rushed out of the house.

Cross section of affected families

“At 7p.m, we heard a sound but I was assured that my son was in the church. We were expecting him to come back home but he didn’t. So, I decided to go to the church but unfortunately, there was nobody in the compound. I searched for him till dawn. The following day, I went to the Oke-Afa canal where I found his dead body .

“I carried him because I wouldn’t want him to be buried alongside others. So, I took his corpse to the Mortuary at Isolo General Hospital. Since then, my home has been shattered. There were compensations from individuals but we haven’t gotten any response from both State and Federal government.

“All the monies that were given by some philanthropists have been taken by the government. The former Lagos State Governor, Alhaji Bola Tinubu didn’t give us anything and that was why we raised alarm in the meeting so that we can be compensated. Unfortunately, I didn’t get anything .Even if I am given N20million, my son cannot come  back to life,” he added.

For Kamilu Yinusa, an ex-civil defense officer who hails from Ogun State, that day has caused his entire family so much pain. “I went to the officers’ meeting at Mushin and on my way back, I  heard a sound  and people starting running helter skelter. We were rescuing them from the scene and because of that, I couldn’t go to my house. I slept in Mushin and the following day, I went to my house. When I got home, I couldn’t locate my family. I searched for  them  everywhere and  fortunately, my wife and two children came back.

It was  my first son, Murudeen Yinusa, who was then 11 years and in JSS2 that didn’t come back with them. Since then, things haven’t been the same. The incident has caused enmity in my family. There was no compensation from anybody. The only thing I was given was relief materials including slippers and a packet of sugar after which the government promised to do more.

They promised that the parents of the  missing children will be given the sum of N250.000.00 as compensation, yet there  was nothing. Someone called me three months ago to be attending the meeting organised in respect of the bomb blast victims and that we will be meeting under the tree and at  point I didn’t believe it. I believed anything government wants to do will be announced and so I didn’t believe it.”

Emmaunel Odeyenma revealed that his house at  Ajao Estate was the site where people passed through while running for their lives. “I lost my first son to that blast. My wife ran out of the house with my two children,  the first and second . I didn’t know that they  ran into the canal.

Fortunately, my wife crossed the canal and saw my daughter but she couldn’t find my son. The boy was thirteen months old. I haven’t been compensated since the event happened. I never knew that a meeting was holding in respect of the incident not to mention that people will be compensated. I only heard it on the day of the 10th anniversary. That is why I came to the meeting to see if there is anything I can do for my name to be included in the list.

One of the affected persons who claimed anonymity said, “My case is different because I have been faced with series of threat from people that I don’t know. Somebody revealed to me that it was because I reported the case to the management  that  I have been face with threats.

“Before the blast, my wife did surgical operation which stated that she could not bear a child but God has provided a child for me. I don’t need compensation, the only thing I need from the government is for my life and that of my family members to be secured. I should be free and live as other Nigerians.

“There is no security of life is this country. I am a soldier. I lost all my three boys to that blast. Nobody cared about me. My wife was in the hospital for close to two years and at the end of the day, nobody cared. I was invited to Abuja and at the end I was threatened and some people were hired to eliminate my life. I am still in the army and I refused to quit.

“I lost my mother recently. I  have a Masters degree and yet, I wasn’t given any promotion. They said they will frustrate me so much that I would quit the barracks. All these threats was because I reported the case to the authority that I lost my children and nobody cared about me,” he added.

The chairman of the Ikeja  Bomb Blast victims, Mr. Olaniran Majekodunmi also lost his two children to the unpleasant incident.

“I lost my two children in the explosion. The first one was thirteen years old while the second was eight months old. I was at Ikorodu then while my family including my children and wife were at Mafoluku, Oshodi, my resident.
“All I know is that I saw their corpses beside the canal the following day. My wife was the first  person to be drawn out of the canal while my two children died in the process.

“I traveled out of the country and I was advised to take up the fight. So when I came back, I started the war with both the State and Federal Government. We thank God that the State government has done something reasonable enough. But the most important thing is that the federal government that promised compensations since 2002 under the leadership of former president Olusegun Obansanjo, has done nothing to that effect but  they gave some money which they called relieve fund.

“Even the ones given by the individuals is nowhere to be found. We only comment on the monies we see.
“What the State government gave was done by the help of some Nigerians including the  permanent secretary,  Ministry of Special Duties, Lagos State as well as the General Manager, LASEMA, Femi Osanyintolu.

When asked to comment on  how people have been funding the meeting ,he said, “I couldnot fund the struggle on my account alone. So the group volunteered to be contributing monies which will be used to finance those who would be representing the group in the government. When I started the struggle, people called me names. Some said I’m a thief while others said, I was lavishing their money recklessly but now, their mouths are shut. I gave the State government twenty names for scholarship fbut my children’s names were not there.

“The State government said, children whose fathers or bread winners were lost will be put on scholarship”.
For those who lost all they had and yet there is nothing to compensate them with, he said, once they were not coming to the meeting, they are considered losers forever.

“We organised and conducted the meeting for the world to listen to us. I believe our struggle is for justice to prevail.”

When accused by the group of extorting monies, he said some people are fond of destroying people’s name.
“ The only money we collect from the group is for mobilisation of those who represent the group in the government. The first batch consists of seventy names because they were the first who started the meeting with me and I submitted their names.

“Some people have joined us but their names were not included in the first batch. We are compiling the second list to be submitted to the State government for compensation. People that died were more than the number of people that have been compensated”, he added.

Asked if the money given to the victims was what the State government is giving out as compensated, he said, “the State government has said that the compensation will be a yearly thing and so, there is hope. There is a response from the federal government for the people to be compensated. I believe that there will be a better thing after all. But if there is no response, we will go to court”, he concluded.