Mubi blast: Survivors tell tales of gory experiences

…as 37 die in clash

Some of the survivors of Sunday’s bomb explosion in a viewing centre in Mubi, Adamawa State, which claimed 18 lives, recounted their experiences, yesterday, even as no fewer than 37 people died, yesterday, when a militia formed by some villages clashed with Boko Haram terrorists.

In his account, Mr. Oscar Ibeh, a hotelier, who owns the Oscar Joint that housed the football viewing centre and club bar in Mubi, told Vanguard in a telephone interview that two tricycles laden with explosives had parked in front of the hotel for a long time as the owners pretended to be among the crowd watching football or relaxing in the club.

Ibeh said: “I never knew it was the tricycles that were carrying the explosives. Not quite a few minutes after crossing the road to enter the chemist opposite my hotel, I heard a loud bang. The bang sent me into the gutter and I lay there unconsciously for over 20 minutes. I started regaining my conscience when people started crying and wailing for help.

“When I raised up my head from the gutter, I saw human beings cut into pieces which littered the frontage of the hotel and on the road,” Oscar Ibeh regretted.
Another survivor, a local tea seller, who simply identified himself as Shagari, said he too escaped death by the whiskers during the bomb explosion.

Shagari, whose tea spot is directly opposite the Oscar joint, claimed that some of the victims who were hit by the blast died in his tea shop.
Meantime, a key suspect in the r bomb explosion that rocked the Kabang community in Mubi, Adamawa State, Sunday evening, has been arrested.

The arrest of the suspect, according to the Director Defence Information, Major -General Chris Olukolade, was done by troops who cordoned the area in a swift response to the explosion.
“The suspect was nabbed as observant members of the public confirmed sighting him alight from the vehicle used in conveying the explosive device that detonated in Kabang shortly before the explosion.

“So far, 19 persons  wounded in the explosion have been evacuated and are receiving medical attention in hospitals while 18 others have been confirmed dead.

“Also, our patrol troops have successfully repelled an ambush in Buratai community in Biu, a town in Borno State. The troops who fell into the ambush laid by the terrorists while on  patrol, engaged the terrorists in a fight, killing four of them and capturing one alive.

“Also in Kawuri in Borno State, troops in a patrol have killed five terrorists in a shoot-out. The troops also captured two AK 47 rifles and two vehicles used by the terrorists,”  Olukolade stated.
Meanwhile, Boko Haram terrorists who attacked the villages of Attangara and Agapalwa in the Gwoza district of Borno, yesterday, were ambushed by a local militia that killed 37 of them.

According to a church minister and chairman of the state chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria, Titus Ponna, “these villages are over 80 per cent Christian and Boko Haram have in the last two weeks attacked them, killing many villagers, but yesterday, they were able to defend themselves and killed 37 Boko Haram members
Also, a resident of Attagara, Matha Yohana who fled from the attack said, “the attack occurred in the morning  at EYN Church (Church of Brethern in Nigeria) while the service was on.

“Our church has some men who volunteered to keep watch when service is on. As we were holding service, we started hearing gunshots and everybody fled, some through the windows and ran into bush.
“Some whose houses were close to the church also ran to their houses. Men in the community immediately mobilised and pursued the Boko Haram men. They were more than 10, they came with motorcycles and a car.
“Our vigilante killed four of the Boko Haram and arrested three. I later discovered that nine of our men in the church security group were shot dead.

Boko Haram criminal, Anti-Islam —OIC scribe
Meanwhile, the Secretary General of Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC),  Eyad Ameen Madani has described members of the Boko Haram as criminal terrorists whose activities are anti-Islam.
Addressing State House correspondents after meeting with President Jonathan, the OIC scribe said Boko Haram’s activities have no place in Islam and should be clearly seen as what it is – terrorism.

“The OIC has issued statements that are very clear, that these people are outlaws. What they do is criminal act, it has absolutely nothing to do with Islam, Islamic teachings, the religion of Islam, the history, the culture, the civilisation of Islam and we should identify them for what they are, as a terrorist group.

“We are here to express our solidarity with Nigeria in facing up to this terrorist organisation and to condemn the terrorist acts they have been committing, and to show our condolences to the Nigerian people, to the families of those who were affected.
“We listened to the President and we offered what OIC could do in terms of expressing its support, its willingness to be actively involved in facing up this terrorist group” he said.