Olushola Omogbehin
A man has reportedly lost four sons to the bomb explosion that took place in Maiduguri in Borno State.
In the blasts, which occurred at the gate of the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital (UMTH), the Monday Market roundabout and the Post Office area, about 27 lives including the four children of Ba Musa were lost.
Narrating the sad event yesterday, a neighbour to the father of the children, said deceased children were caught up in the explosion when they went to buy eyeglasses for the Sallah celebration.
Usman told Vice President Kashim Shettima during his visit to the UMTH that: “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.
With injuries on his arms and legs, a security guard at the hospital, also narrated to 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.
Another woman also 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.
