Boko Haram: Apathy, anxiety as Nyanya Motor Park re-opens

Six years after Boko Haram insurgents killed many Nigerians at a bus terminal in Nyanya, Nassarawa State, residents of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have expressed fears in using the same bus terminus as the FCTA has reopened it for operations.

The incident happened in 2011 and on April 14, 2014 at about 6:45am, precisely where two bombs exploded at a crowded bus station in Nyanya, Nasarawa, killing at least 88 people and injuring at least 200.

Recall that the explosives hidden inside vehicles detonated during morning rush hour in a bus station in Nyanya on the outskirts of Abuja. After the initial blast, further explosions occurred as fuel tanks in nearby vehicles ignited.

Residents who spoke to The Abuja Times on the reopening of the bus terminal expressed fear, adding that it would take Abuja residents a good time to overcome shocks of the damage to human feelings.

Mr. Folurunso Olowokere, a shop owner at Nyanya and a regular traveler from Nyanya to Abuja and other places for business, recalled his ordeals and psychological state which he is yet to overcome since the incident took place.

According to Mr. Olowokere, going to the terminal to board a bus to Abuja or other places now poses danger as the memory of the event remained fresh in his mind.

“I saw people enter the bus in a single line but they were all blown off in pieces three minutes later. Human flesh scattered all over the places including my shop,” he said.

Mr. Ochudo Mike, a civil servant resident in Nyanya, told The Abuja Times that the FCT Administration should strengthen its security measure to ensure that there will be no repeat of what happened last time.

He said: “I believe that if our security apparatus is well built, the Nyanya bomb blast would not have happened. But now that the park is to be reopened, I would like to state here that insecurity would even mar the comeback”.

Mr. Ochudo, stressed that issues of security in Nigeria needed to be addressed properly to assure the people that their lives will be well secured while boarding the vehicles to different destinations.

“The police, the Army and other security agencies need to be beefed up for double assurance,” he said.

While recalling the incident, an Abuja based journalist, who preferred her name not mentioned, went memory lane, as an eye witness, stating that head of the Abuja Emergency Relief Agency during the incident, confirmed that 71 people had been killed and 124 injured.

Meanwhile, early Monday morning, the park which was open for operation, witnessed scanty passengers as perceived apathy loomed among the people. However, soldiers and few number of security men were sighted fully armed seemingly ready for action.