By AbdulSalam Mohammad, Kano

Survivors of the bomb blast that rocked a relaxation spot in Sabon Gari area of Kano metropolis on Monday including journalists, artisan and transporters recount their tales of woes. Some of their colleagues died but they survived.

To Mr. Kolade Adeyemi, a Yoruba and senior reporter with Nation Newspapers in Kano, it was miraculous escape from the jaws of death on Monday at a relaxation spot located at Enugu Street, by Igbo Road when a high caliber Improvised Explosive Device (IED) went off.

Adeyemi explained that “the harrowing experience between life and death all began around 9pm. I was seated with a colleague waiting to honour an appointment when suddenly a deafening noise pierced the celebrating mood of fun seekers.”

He went on, “Total darkness enveloped the scene within seconds, all I could see were corpses around the vicinity which was, moments earlier, bubbling with able body young men milling around. I was trying to make meaning of what was happening when suddenly I saw a flying object which slightly missed me and cut the right leg of the man sitting behind me”

Adeyemi, who said he was overwhelmed by the “strange development”, said he was forced to run to safety in the ensuing mêlée”.

“The shock and wailing of the injured was a clear reminder of the day of Armageddon and it was also a day that everyone around was mostly concerned with his personal safety as terror held sway momentarily leaving us completely terrified”

*Kano blasts

The Monday night attack was his second in two years. His first encounter with insurgent activities in the city of over nine million people was January 20 when they first launched a major offensive in the cosmopolitan city that consumed the life of his close friend, Mr., John Eneche Akogu, of the Channels Television.

During that encounter, Adeyemi revealed he saw “death within a close range but he escaped by the whiskers through the intervention of God who stopped the evil forces from spilling my blood”. His presence at the scene of bloodletting on June 20 was informed by his zeal and commitment to journalistic duty that harps on first- hand information.

Unlike Adeyemi, a tavern shop attendant, Mr.  Emeka Ani, 21,  an Igbo, was a victim in the Monday attack because he was on duty.  Ani, in a pool of blood while being wheeled out of theatre where he had undergone a procedure, asked Sunday Vanguard, “Why would anyone seek to terminate my life on line of duty?”.

Ani’s question was understandable as, according to him, “I was in the shop attending to customers when suddenly I heard a bang that sent me sprawling on the ground and losing consciousness in the ensuing melee”.

“I cannot tell you graphic details of what happened because I woke up in hospital after the blast”.

The 21- year-old disclosed, “If they don’t want me here, they are ready to employ me back there at home. I may have no option than to return to the village where human life is treasured and I will be welcome “.

Ani’s ordeal was similar to that of his kinsman, Mr.Ejike Godwin, from Oweri North local council area of Imo State. Ejike, looking downcast, lamented, “If I had heeded my mother’s advice, perhaps I would have escaped this.

“I relocated my family from Kano to the village shortly after the first attack of January 20, and I recall vividly how my mum knelt and begged me to forget Kano and its imaginary fortune to settle down with them in the village, but I refused.”

Ejike revealed that the scene of the Monday blast was a “multi- purpose fun centre”, adding that most of the spectators were every night attracted to the area principally to watch snooker and table tennis”.

The Imo born businessman said, “We took delight every evening watching snooker and tennis amateurs entertain sometimes with dexterity and it was in the midst of the frenzy that night that the defeaning sound knocked me down.

“When I regained my senses, I realized that I had no legs to run away and had to be assisted by a good Samaritan to hospital”.

But for Prince Emeka Mba, Kano Station Manager, Young Shall Grow transport firm, “the event of last Monday was a tragedy of monumental proportion “. He added that “the scene of the blast was within the precinct of my office”

While speaking on how he was affected by the blast, Mba painfully pointed at his swollen leg, saying, “I was badly hit, my legs are battered, my chest was affected too, likewise my head. I am waiting for a team of medical doctors for a procedure to stop the bleeding.

“I am yet to understand why a predominantly Christian area has been a target of insurgent activities, and, from what I know of Islam, if it is accepted that this is a jihad, the religion prohibits compulsion. I suspect there is more to it than meets the eye.”

Consequent upon the blast, the leadership of Ohanaeze in Kano is mulling the idea of evolving a new approach to confront the security challenge confronting non-indegenes of Kano living in Sabon Gari

Chairman, Ohanaeze Nndigbo, Kano chapter, Chief Tobia Idika, said, “The leadership of Ohanaeze Nndigbo in Kano is considering floating a civilian JTF to complement the concerted efforts by relevant security agents to police Sabon Gari, a predominantly Christians areas that has witnessed terrorist attacks”.

Briefing journalists in Kano, the Chairman, Kano chapter of Ohanaeze Nndigbo, Kano, Chief Tobias Idika, explained that the option had become “very viable in the light of increased activities of terrorists in this densely populated quarters”.

Idika said the “option of taking up our collective security through the civilian JTF  is long overdue, if only to set an example on how best non-indegenes can come together to confront a national question threatening the fabric of the nation”.

He went on, “The dwellers of Sabon Gari had been target of attack by the extremist group since they struck January 20, 2012. The motor park bombing last March with its attendant devastation is still fresh in our mind and the question left unanswered is, for how long would non-indegenes in Sabon Gari continue to lose its productive population?”

The chairman of the pan- Igbo socio cultural organization disclosed that “this new thinking has been the position of South-east leaders and I believe time is ripe for us to seize the gauntlet and check the dangerous trend”.

Idika stressed that the step would no doubt ginger security consciousness among the populace.

He added, “We have come to realize that it is non- challance attitude of the society on security that tends to propel and sustain their heinous act and activities on innocent and unsuspecting people doing a legitimate business.

“I want to assure that we are going to seek the support and cooperation of other stakeholders to enable us jointly come up with an acceptable standard and rule of engagement to enhance their smooth operation without rancor or bickering”.