I Thought I Was in Hell – Victims of Benin Bomb Explosion Recount Experience

Explosion on Tuesday rocked six residential buildings on Zomi-Zomi Street at the Upper Sakponba axis of Benin City the capital of Edo State. Although no live was lost in the incident, which occurred in the afternoon, some occupants of the buildings sustained minor injuries.

It was widely reported on Tuesday, February 2, that multiple explosions occurred in Benin, the Edo state capital, rocking the ancient city to its foundation, as many residents of Zumizumi street, off Sakponba road, Oka 3, said they thought the explosion was the handy work of men of the dreaded Boko Haram who might have invaded their community.

According to reports, the first of the explosion went off after 2 pm when Elue Chinedu, a patent medicine dealer who occupies house number 41 on the street set fire on refuse he allegedly swept from the house he moved into about nine months ago. ‎

It was learnt that the explosion ripped through the perimeter fence of the building and destroyed many other things. But house number 39, the one just before the ‎site of incident, bore the brunt of the explosion more than the any other house in the area, as the louvre blades in all the windows in the building were shattered. The PVC ceiling in all the rooms were not spared either as they were pulled down to the floor. Occupants were fortunate not to have been around, else, they could have been singing a different tune by now.

The landlady of the house, Mrs. Elizabeth Omoruyi, who was home when the explosion occurred, gave a terrifying account of what transpired, saying,

“I thought I was in hell. I was sleeping when I heard a loud bang. I thought I was in hell. The wooden shelf in my caravan fell on me. I didn’t know what was happening. I managed to push the shelf away from on top of me, but I passed out.

Neighbours later came to help me up and out of the caravan. When I managed to go into my room, I couldn’t believe what I saw, it was like a war zone,” she said. 61-year-old Johnbull Omoruyi, a retired civil servant and landlord of house number 39, who said he was not at home when the explosion took place, said he was in shock over the magnitude of the explosion on his building.

He said:-

“I was out when my daughter called me to say I should come, that something was happening. ‎It is a big shock to me. I just retired from civil service last year. The anti-bomb police said it was bomb planted there.

“About two years ago, when I woke up in the morning, I saw a team of security men surrounded the scene of the incident. As I dressed to go to work, I was stopped by the security men that I should not go, asking if I didn’t know that kidnappers live there.

“After the security men waited at the gate and nobody came out from the building, they cut the keys to the gate open and found no one inside the house. They broke into the house and packed the belongings of the suspected kidnappers out and set them on fire.

‎”About a year ago, a new tenant occupied the building. The tenant had swept the rubble in the compound and set them on fire. He later left to buy ice cream when suddenly the explosion occurred.” The Commander, 4 Brigade, Nigeria Army in Benin, Faruk Yahaya, have confirmed that the explosions were not caused by bombs, as formally insinuated by many.

The Brigadier-General, who was at the scene of the incident, ‎said it was evident that improvised explosive device materials were the cause of the explosion.

He said:-

“We heard of the explosion here and I came for an on-the-sport assessment. Before I came today (Wednesday), my personnel were here, even yesterday, almost immediately it happened. You know that when there is an incident, we get to know what happened. But sometimes, there is need to come and see what it is, so that you can brief appropriately.

“By my assessment and by that of others, it is obvious (that) it is not a terrorist attack. It is not an attack on this place. The people around here can bear witness; we don not think it is an attack. Perhaps, you can describe it as an accident or something that was buried there that has maybe exploded.

“We are grateful to God that when the thing happened, there were no people very close by. The incident would have been bigger; what happened to nearby houses is as a result of vibration from the explosion.”