Among the cosmopolitan residents of Nyanya suburb (Nasarawa State) on the outskirts of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), it could be said that the fear of suicide bombers is the beginning of wisdom. Since the recent bombing incident in Nyanya and Kuje, everyone - including visitors, market men and women, transporters and travellers – has been moving in an atmosphere of palpable fear. 

Of course, reason for the fear is not far-fetched. The apprehension, which is a direct fall-out of the recent bomb incident, was engendered in people residing in Nyanya who naturally feel threatened, because of the explosion, which is the second time.  

The narrative of the biting agony and fear that still trail the recent bomb attack in the environment is so worrisome that security measures adopted has not been able to quell people’s fears and worries. Many are still worried, and understandably so. 

Though the bomb attack, which took many left many dead and scores injured in the areas may have gone, the impact and audacity cannot but still frighten majority of the residents. It could be recalled that it was on April 14, 2014, that the first set of the bombs exploded in Nyanya area on Abuja. The dastardly incident claimed about 50 lives while over 100 were injured.

Barely 18 months after, another explosion rocked two places: Nyanya and Kuje areas of Abuja. In the calamitous event, 15 persons were confirmed dead and 41 injured. The scene of the inhuman act aroused pity and emotion. Definitely, these pointers were enough to aggravate fear in residents, as it has always been a subject of discussion. Even, people now joke about it, perhaps in an attempt to forgetting its implications, or probably trying to accept it as a familiar occurrence, which they must learn to live with while the Boko Haram insurgency.

News Express correspondent, who visited Nyanya about two weeks after the incidence, observed that residents have not stopped discussing the incident, particularly how the insurgents have taken away peace from the residents. In a chat Bolaji Olaosun, a resident, he enthused: “What used to be peace among us before has turned to sorrow and fear. Yes, the Boko Haram people caused this. Now, the discussion here every time is Boko Haram. No other topic. The market men and women who trade to make ends meet are risking their lives.”

In the course of News Express enquiry, around 5pm, after offices had closed, it was so glaring that workers coming out from their different places of work as well as  passers-by, all were moving briskly to leave the area in on their way to join buses to their respective destination. That, also, is part of the residents’ security measure. 

Some of the residents told News Express that they had been living in fear after the attack, adding that the military check-points being used as a security measure is not enough to allay their fears. Ifeoluwa Kolapo recalled the ugly experience of losing a friend to the bomb blast, praying that God should not allow her witness such a horrible experience again in her lifetime.

It is simple to deduce why residents are more worried: the military checkpoints which are at different points are at close range to each other. The checking exercise, most times, causes gridlock, making the residents to spend longer time than necessary in the traffic, when either leaving or coming into the community. 

Apart from the fact that the residents complained that they currently found it difficult getting vehicles to convey them to their respective destinations, they equally raised concerns that staying in the long queue poses further danger to their lives. 

Besides the horror of past explosions, some are worried based on the prediction by an Abuja-based cleric, Pastor Victor Ajibishe, who prophesied that there would be bomb blast in some central area places in Abuja. He added that the insurgents are no more targeting the satellite areas but the central districts, with a view to increasing number of victims.

His words: “It might likely be more than two places in the central areas of the metropolis. It might extend to four places, and it is certain that it would occur.”

He added that the people behind the blast want to make sure they attack to challenge the authority of some pastors who are speaking against their evil acts. “The attack will affect the pastors’ churches. They are big churches in Abuja, and the explosion would really make a lot of people cry, because the loss would be much,” Ajibishe said. He called for national prayers to reduce the number of likely casualties of the prophesied explosions.

The first attack perpetrated was on a single spot. The second was a twin explosion. Given the unpredictability and dare-devilry of the insurgents, the Federal Government is expected to boost the security apparatuses of the security forces, so as to avert future dangerous explosions.