This is the sad story of how a man lost four of his sons in multiple explosions that rocked Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, on Monday.
The bomb blasts left at least 27 people dead and scores injured.
The blasts struck key locations, including the gate of the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital (UMTH), the Monday Market roundabout and the Post Office area, triggering panic across the city.
A trader, Usman Lawan, told Daily Trust that his neighbour, identified as Ba Musa, lost all four children in the attack while they had gone out to buy eyeglasses in preparation for the Sallah celebration.
“They had just finished eating and came to buy eyeglasses for Sallah. The blast killed all of them. They were buried yesterday,” Lawan said, recounting the tragedy during a visit by Vice President Kashim Shettima to UMTH.
Lawan, who also survived the explosion, said he lost his goods in the incident.
“We finished our Iftar, and I was pushing my fruit cart when the blast happened. I found myself in the hospital. Everything I had is gone,” he added.
A security guard at the hospital, who sustained injuries, described how suspected attackers arrived on a motorbike and attempted to gain access to the facility.
“I noticed something suspicious and asked them to leave. They returned a second time, and when I refused to let them in, they threw a food container at me. It hit my hand and fell to the ground, threatening to explode. I lay down and heard a loud noise. As I tried to run inside, another container exploded and struck my leg,” he said.
A woman who lost her daughter in the attack said, “We had just arrived at the hospital when the bomb went off. I fell, and my daughter fell lifeless. Her head exploded. They brought me inside and told me she was gone. I prayed to God because He took her.”
“Her father died when she was five months old,” she added.
Petty traders injured in the multiple bomb blasts have spoken to Daily Trust from their hospital beds in Maiduguri. Some of the victims are receiving treatment at the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital (UMTH), the Specialist Hospital, and Umaru Shehu Hospital in the city.
“Unless something is done to help us get our businesses back on track, most of us will be frustrated even when we recover,” said one of the traders, Alhaji Bashir, who is a patient at UMTH.
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