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Billions
Of Nairas Lost, Thousands Of Corpses In Nigeria Blast
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| A
building destroyed by the Sunday blast in Lagos |
By
IOL correspondent in Nigeria, Sulaiman Osho
ABEOKUTA,
Nigeria, Jan. 30 (IslamOnline) - Property worth billions of nairas
has been lost in the bomb explosion that enveloped Lagos, the
commercial nerve center of Nigeria last Sunday, January 27, while
thousands of corpses were still being discovered in different
locations of the city.
IOL
gathered that official quarters, offices, schools, vehicles, and
even places of worship were razed down at the Ikeja Military
Cantonment during the bomb explosion. Though no official assessment
had been done on the extent of damage, sources at the office of the
Commandant of the Military Cantonment put it at two billion nairas.
The
Commandant of the Cantonment, Brigadier-General George Emdin,
attributed the cause of the explosion to the "military
involvement in politics", explaining that "the military
abandoned its professional responsibilities during its long time
spell in Nigerian governance". According to him, "the
military locations were left to rot away while we were busy
politicking," warning that more bomb explosions were inevitable
in other army locations in Nigeria if immediate steps were not
taken.
Meanwhile,
hundreds of corpses were still being recovered from different
locations in Lagos in the aftermath of the bomb explosion, while
they were being deposited at the General hospitals at Isolo, Ikeja,
Mushin and Agege.
Nigerian
President, Olusegun Obasanjo, who described the incident as
"national tragedy" during his visit to the scene, has
released a sum of 10 million nairas for the rehabilitation of the
victims while the Red Cross was assisting in the provision of relief
materials for the displaced persons.
The
national flag was hoisted at half-mast in Nigeria on the orders of
the government as a mark of mourning while military authorities were
making efforts to get British and American assistance in determining
the extent of damage and the detonation of the remaining bombs at
the armory.
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