Survivor of Jos Bomb Blast, Prince Nwabufo Narrates Ordeal, Three Days After 118 Nigerians Were Murdered in Cold Blood

295
Spread the love

It was sorrow, tears and blood ar the popular and busy Jos Terminus in Plateau state as men suspected to be members of the notorious Boko Haram sect, struck, leaving over one hundred Nigerians dead in cold blood with many more seriously injured.

The first bomb blast occurred inside the busy Jos Terminus market while the second took place near the bus station. As at the time of filing this report, the number of confirmed deaths was put at 118 people while more than fifty people sustained various degrees of injuries.

Tears flowed freely on the day as dead bodies were taken out of burnt down shops and vehicles by the men of the Nigeria police force, the Nigeria red cross, fire service and some officials of the civil defence corps who arrived the scene early enough to offer help.

Narrating his ordeal three days after the tension has died down, one of the survivors, Prince Nwabufo AtusiUbah, revealed that it all happened like a movie. Prince Nwabufo who hails from Anambra state in Eastern Nigeria, even though he was born in Gboko in Benue state, says he still lives with the trauma till date.

The musician and artist attended university of Azikwe and specializes in making and buying colorful art products and sell same to his customers who visit from inside and outside Jos, the Plateau state capital.

He is yet to get over the shock when our reporter visited him at his house on Number 15 Miango Junction, off Bauchi road in Jos, Plateau state.

Still looking dejected and devastated, the artist summoned confidence to tell his story as captured in this interview below.

KR: Good afternoon sir, can we meet you?

Prince Nwabufo: “Good afternoon my good friends. My names are Prince Nwabufo Afemefuna AtusiUbah, I am from Nnewi in Anambra state but I have lived here in Jos, the Plateau state capital since 2008. Infact I completed my secondary education here before going into trading. You know that I am an igbo man, so I dropped out of the university at some point to concentrate on making money from my talents which are music and art and craft. These two hobbies I know I can make money from and that was why I rented a shop from my little savings after school to pursue my passion and dream”

KR: So can you remember vividly what happened at the Terminus business area on May 20, 2014?

Prince Nwabufo: “Yes I can remember vividly. Infact if not that God still wants me alive, I would have been history now. The first explosion happened just outside my shop and the two shops closeby including mine and over sixteen more businesses on Lane two of the popular Jos Terminus was razed down by the inferno that followed the blast. I left a young man in my shop, he was there to buy one of my arts on the day and I told him to sit while I go look for change. That was my saving grace. It was a few minutes after I left the scene that I heard the loud explosion. From where I stood, 200m away, I could feel the earth shaking, I could hear the cries from afar and I could see people running for their lives. At that moment I remembered what transpired before I left my shop. Two men dressed like fulani herdsmen came asking for Alhaji Yusuf who sells cloths three shops away from mine. They were carrying black bags. Alhaji Yusuf just left to the nearby mosque to observe his prayers and the men offered to sit inside his shop and wait. I was there when they entered the shop as I moved from one shop to the other looking for change to settle my customer”.

“Later I was told after the blast that those two men that came looking for Alhaji Yusuf were actually suicide bombers and that the black bags they were carrying contained bombs which they later detonated inside the shop”.

KR: Are you saying one of you could have been their target on the day?

Prince Nwabufo: “You cannot rule out anything. I also suspect the young man that came into my shop was with those other men that came looking for Alhaji Yusuf. They were all dressed in dirty while jalabia and were looking very haggard and unkempt. I heard him speaking hausa, telling his friends that he will join them briefly before entering my shop. He took one of the little art designs I made from wood for 150 naira and offered me 200 naira. I went out to look for his change when this incident occurred”.

KR: Why will anyone want to kill a poor Artist?

Prince Nwabufo: “You never can tell. My life has been under threat since the day two Muslim men walked into my shop and offered to pay me 70 naira for a job that costs more than 300 naira. I remember vividly what transpired on the day. They wanted to pay 70 naira when I demanded they pay 350naira for a birthday printing they asked me to do for one of their relatives”.

“Because I refused their offer and asked for a down payment, they left angrily, threatening they will return soon. This incident happened in January this year and we are in June and see what happened just three days back. Why must it be around my shop? Why is it that my shop and two others were mostly affected? I think those guys must have sent their men our for this operation and I am just lucky to escape. I am saying this because of the many threat messages I have been receiving before now”.

KR: Is there any other thing you can remember on the day?

Prince Nwabufo: “Nothing more. All I remembered is that we all ran for our dear lives after the first bomb blast occurred”.

“We fell on ourselves while running and sustained minor injuries but I am happy that I am alive today to tell my story”.

KR: Thank you so much Prince Nwabufo for your time, Savid News appreciate the time spent with us and we wish you all he best going forward

Prince Nwabufo: “Thank you so much. I hope you will publish this story so that the federal government can get in touch with all of us that lost valuables amounting to thousands of Naira and compensate us. That is the only business I do for a living and I just don’t know where to start from again”.


Spread the love