KANO BLAST: 75-Year-Old Survivor Narrates His Horrible Experience

A 75-year-old sur­vivor of the No­vember 28 mul­tiple bomb explosions in Kano, Alhaji Mo­hammed Isa Tiga, yes­terday gave a blood­chilling account of the attack that rocked the city’s Central Mosque, saying he survived by Allah’s grace.

Speaking to Sunday Sun at the Accident and Emergency Unit of the Abdullahi Wase Specialist (Nassarawa) Hospital, the frail-looking man recount­ed that those responsible for the blasts came in a Toyota Sienna space wag­on just as the Jumat prayers were about to start.

He recalled seeing three of them, adding that while two sat at the back of the vehicle, only one was seat­ed at the front.

According to him, as soon as they arrived, they stepped out of the car like normal worshippers and looked every bit like wor­shippers until they began to op­erate.

“I was close by. I saw the three of them alight from the car. A few min­utes after they walked away from the vehicle, the bombs ex­ploded,” he said.

He recalled that confusion ensued. “As peo­ple tried to run away, the young men pulled out their guns and were shooting at those struggling to escape from the blast.” Isa Tiga suf­fered injuries in the confu­sion, stressing that his sur­vival was a miracle.

He could not say what eventually happened to the three men.

The son of the victim, Alhaji Ali Mohammed Gwagwaso, who resides inside Municipal Area and other family members were at the entrance of the hospital ward, playing host to sympathizers. They ex­pressed gratitude to Allah for the life of their father.

Meanwhile, Kano State Governor, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso has commis­erated with relatives of the bomb blasts victims, while praying for the repose of the dead victims’ souls.

Kwankwaso spoke after he paid a sympathy visit to the victims at the Murtala Mohammed Specialists Hospital, Kano.

He also visited the Kano Central Mosque, inside the old city, where the incident occurred.

The governor, who re­turned yesterday from a political trip to Nasarawa State confirmed that a total of 100 worshipers died in the bomb explosions, add­ing that from the report he received, 135 persons were injured.

The governor’s figure contradicted that of the Po­lice, which put the figure of those killed at 35.

Kwankwaso implored the Federal Government to make peace with all Ni­gerians as a means of ad­dressing the bloodletting, while appealing to strik­ing members of the Joint Health Workers Union to return to work in view of the magnitude of the medi­cal challenge thrown up by the bomb blast.

Meanwhile, the Joint Health Sector has suspend­ed its industrial action in Kano State because of the tragedy.

Secretary of the Joint Health Workers’ Union in the state, Kabiru Ado Mini­jibir told Sunday Sun that the state executive of the union held an emergency meeting last Friday, where the decision to suspend the action was reached. They had since communicated the decision to the national body, which gave its con­sent to the suspension of the industrial action.