The fence at 41, Zumizumi Street in shred after the explosion
This was what informed Chinedu Elue, a native of Delta State and an owner of chemist shop to rent a house around the popular "3 House junction, off Upper Sakponba Road in Ikpoba Okha council area of Edo State.
Elue is not alone. Upon retirement as a civil servant, Pa Johnbull Omoruyi decided to use some of the savings from his meagre salary to buy a piece of land and built a house for himself and his family.
Unlike Pa Omoruyi who has been living in his own house, Elue is a tenant of 41, Zumu-Zumizumi Street, Okha of Sokponba Road, Benin. He has been living in that apartment for close to nine months before the event that negatively impacted not only himself, but also his co-tenant couple and residents of 39, Zumizumi Street.
It all began in the afternoon of February 2, 2016, when Elue engaged in little cleaning of his compound after an electrician came to work in the house. After gathering the dirt, he set fire on the rubbish containing waste paper and went outside the compound to buy himself some ice to quench his taste due to the scourging sun.
That was what saved Elue's life because immediately he stepped outside his compound, he was greeted with a loud bang that threw him off balance. Before he could look at the direction of his house, another explosion erupted. When he eventually managed to stand up looking directly towards his compound, thick smoke had enveloped everywhere.
Although no life was lost in the strange explosion, three houses including personal effects were destroyed. Apart from the destruction of property, the loud sound also sent residents living within the vicinity fleeing to various directions believing that the strange explosion which ripped open the roof tops of buildings was a sign of invasion of suspected Boko Haram sect to Edo State.
Elue was not the only one that sustained serious injury, one of the occupants of the building and a woman who was passing by also sustained multiple injuries from the explosion.
Narrating his ordeal, Elue said: “I stay in the house with one family and I have live in the compound for nine months. An electrician came to work in the house and I said let me use the opportunity to clean the compound, I gathered the waste papers together and wanted to burn it. As I was burning the papers I said let me go and buy ice cream before I heard loud sound of explosion which threw me off balance and I sustained injuries."
A 70 year-old woman, Mrs Hannah Francis who claimed to be living directly oppose the scene of the bomb explosion said she had a deafening sound and had come out to find out what happened but discovered a thick dark smoke from the building.
Luckily for residents of the area, operatives of Edo State Police Command anti-bomb squad, led by Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Musa Uba were on hand to cordon off all the affected area.
On siting the Police who came to detonate the bonds, residents within the area heaved a sigh of relief only to become apprehensive again when another explosion went off. As soon as the second explosion occurred, those living around needed not be told that what is happening is not just ordinary.
According to an occupant of one of the affected building, "just as the police were condoning off the area trying to detonate some of the bombs discovered, another of the bombs went off which sent some of us running away. I have even sent my wife to my children school to take them to a safer place because we thought Boko Haram has come to Edo State".
At the scene, relics of the destroyed houses worth millions of Naira littered everywhere as occupants of the affected buildings, were seen counting their losses, while family members and other sympathisers trooped out in their numbers to catch a glimpse of the dastardly act.
Also recounting the sad incidence, Pa Johnbull Omoruyi said the blast that erupted from the next compound to his was heart troubling and ear deafening.
According to him, he was away from home at about 2pm Tuesday when he got a phone call that his house was hit by a blast from an explosion from a neighbouring compound, which got him home immediately from his place of work. He lamented that the explosion which has destroyed the house he built several years back as a civil servant working in Edo Governor's Office was completely ruined in the explosion and called on government and well-meaning Nigerians to come to his aid.
Describing what he perceived as the handiwork of occupants of the house where the strange blast erupted, Pa Omoruyi said the former tenants who resided in the building about two years ago, were suspected of engaging in criminal activities as a combined team of crack policemen, army, navy and other security agencies have raided the house several times in search of the occupants without success.
Omoruyi noted that the continuous invasion of the house by security operatives however gave an indication that the occupants were on the wanted list of the police, which apparently led to the house being abandoned by the occupants.
He said the landlord of the house who is now deceased, or any member of the family couldn't be reached to eject the occupants, but explained that the deceased landlord's wife was contacted after one of the young men allegedly arrested outside the premises led the police to the house, where their property was impounded by the police after which the house was left unoccupied in the last couple of years.
Sixty-one years old Omoruyi disclosed that he was later surprised to see new tenants living in the building after several years of both family of the landlord and tenants deserted the said house at 41 Zumizumi Street.
Upon meeting with wife of the deceased, Omoruyi said he was told by the landlady that the bungalow has been leased to new tenants, adding that the old tenants were alleged to be involved in kidnapping and other nefarious acts, which led to the arrest of one of them and others now at large with their property removed and taken by the police.
The unfortunate incident, he disclosed was triggered when an occupant of the said building lit up fire to burn refuse generated in the building and dashed out to buy ice-cream, only to return to meet the havoc wreaked on the building and other neighbours by a wild explosion from his building.
Similarly, Mrs. Elizabeth Omoruyi a petty trader and wife of Johnbull Omoruyi, described the explosion as disheartening, adding that it has affected negatively the livelihood of the family. In tears, she said her family has lost all it laboured for many years including her shop located in front of their house which was completely destroyed by the thunderous explosion.
"I was in my shop in the front of our house at about 2pm when I heard a loud noise from nowhere. I thought it was armed robbers, but to my surprise, my shop ceilings, doors, gates and provisions and food items displayed for sale were all destroyed. I started shouting help me, help me until people came to rescue me from the rubbles of the explosion. I am old and thank God that my children and grandchildren were in school when the blast occurred. We are calling on the government to help us as my husband is a poor civil servant," she lamented.
Although efforts to speak with the Commissioner of Police, Chris Ezike immediately the explosions occurred proved futile, preliminary investigation by the police revealed that the Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDS) may have been caused by abandoned weapons by suspected kidnapper who live in that compound two years ago before soldiers raided the complex.
Also, the military anti-bomb squad which was at the scene of the blast when newsmen visited the scene, disclosed that the explosion has nothing to do with activities of insurgency. Brig-Gen Faruk Yahaya of the 4 Brigade Command, Nigeria Army, Benin, insisted the explosion has nothing to do with insurgency.
"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 do 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.
"What I will only urge all of us to do is to be vigilant. Security is everybody's business. When you see something you do not understand, you suspect (and) report to security agencies. People are living in communities; when there is somebody alien to them, they know.
"They can easily establish his mission. And if they are not satisfied, they can relay to the agencies. The people who perpetrate criminal activities are living with us and, by and large, we know them. If we are more vigilant, we can avoid a lot of things.
"I am not in a position to say what it (building) was meant (for). But security agencies are always on the trail of criminals, all types of them.
He added, "Sometimes, they can be kidnappers, armed robbers or even cultists. Based on information, we conduct what is called cordon and search, to search an environment or a place we suspect. But to say what was there two years ago, I am not in a position to say so. But what we saw suggests that whoever was there, was having the material (IEDs) you saw.
"Probably they keep them there; when they want to use them, they carry them. But when they were raided, they abandoned the place and did not remember to carry what they left. And thank God they (criminals) they did not carry them. If they had, they would have used them somewhere else", said Brig-Gen Yahaya said.
"I was in my shop in the front of our house at about 2pm when I heard a loud noise from nowhere. I thought it was armed robbers, but to my surprise, my shop ceilings, doors, gates and provisions and food items displayed for sale were all destroyed. I started shouting help me, help me until people came to rescue me from the rubbles of the explosion. I am old and thank God that my children and grandchildren were in school when the blast occurred. We are calling on the government to help us as my husband is a poor civil servant," she lamented.
Although efforts to speak with the Commissioner of Police, Chris Ezike immediately the explosions occurred proved futile, preliminary investigation by the police revealed that the Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDS) may have been caused by abandoned weapons by suspected kidnapper who live in that compound two years ago before soldiers raided the complex.
Also, the military anti-bomb squad which was at the scene of the blast when newsmen visited the scene, disclosed that the explosion has nothing to do with activities of insurgency. Brig-Gen Faruk Yahaya of the 4 Brigade Command, Nigeria Army, Benin, insisted the explosion has nothing to do with insurgency.
"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 do 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.
"What I will only urge all of us to do is to be vigilant. Security is everybody's business. When you see something you do not understand, you suspect (and) report to security agencies. People are living in communities; when there is somebody alien to them, they know.
"They can easily establish his mission. And if they are not satisfied, they can relay to the agencies. The people who perpetrate criminal activities are living with us and, by and large, we know them. If we are more vigilant, we can avoid a lot of things.
"I am not in a position to say what it (building) was meant (for). But security agencies are always on the trail of criminals, all types of them.
He added, "Sometimes, they can be kidnappers, armed robbers or even cultists. Based on information, we conduct what is called cordon and search, to search an environment or a place we suspect. But to say what was there two years ago, I am not in a position to say so. But what we saw suggests that whoever was there, was having the material (IEDs) you saw.
"Probably they keep them there; when they want to use them, they carry them. But when they were raided, they abandoned the place and did not remember to carry what they left. And thank God they (criminals) they did not carry them. If they had, they would have used them somewhere else", said Brig-Gen Yahaya said.
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