The Great Mistake mistake: Remebering the 2002 Ikeja Bomb blast

On our earlier post on military workout. we discovered that one of our blog readers Stephanie posted a comment regarding the 2002 ikeja militarybase bomb blast. So we decided to drop this post here in memory of the blast

Sunday, January 27, 2002 was particularly a gloomy day for many families in Lagos State. The trouble, which eventually sent many to their graves prematurely, started around 5pm when there was a sudden explosion, akin to that of an earthquake. The loud bang shook the entire Lagos city, as if bombs were detonated behind the windows of each of the residents.

Being an unprecedented occurrence and not knowing what was actually happening, people, understandably, started running helter-skelter. And whilst scampering for safety, they heard several other explosions, of same intensity, and in the imagination of many, it was as if another war had started. The vibration shattered windows, roofs and brought down buildings several kilometres away.

Unknown to many, the explosion, which sounded for about seven times and almost ripped the metropolitan city apart, was coming from Ikeja Military Cantonment. It was later gathered that some high calibre bombs kept underground at the military facility were not well stored, which led to the accidental discharge of the bombs. Another version said there was a fire outbreak at the Armoured Technical Dump within the facility which later spread to where the bombs were stored and triggered the deadly explosions.Within seconds, there was commotion across the city, and as people were running for their lives, the stampede led to deaths, and by the minute, the death toll began to rise. Thus, across the city, dead bodies littered the streets. Out of panic, people jumped into fire, some ran into moving vehicles and were knocked down while some were burnt to death by the raging fire. While those situations were incredibly unfortunate, one location that seemed to record the highest number of deaths was a large canal at Ajao Estate which links Oke Afa in Isolo. Unfortunately, the canal (filled with water) had been covered by water hyacinth, and as people ran into the supposed ‘bush’, they were being drowned in the water. People stepped on themselves and many more were drowned. Children, parents and several others were killed, while some families were completely wiped off.

By the time the last bomb went off and a bit of calmness returned to the city the following day, over 1,000 persons were found to have died, several others went missing and had not been found till date, while several thousands were displaced and thousands had varying degrees of injuries. It was one accident too many.

Following the incident, the Federal Government, under ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo, and the Lagos State government promised to compensate the victims’ families. But owing to delay in fulfilling the promises, a man who lost two of his children to the incident, Mr. Olaniran Majekodunmi, brought other affected families together to form a group to compel the government to fulfil its promise

Little did people know that what they just heard wasnt a thunder clap..... It was the sound of many explosive weapons and bombs detonating almost at once..!.

Here are some chilling facts you might not know about that blast that threw our nation into misery.

1. The Blast could be Heard 50km Away: Imagine that distance for a second, I was at Lagos, Ojo. Yet i was able to hear that terrible sound which i thought was just a thunder... Infact according to reports: Houses were cracked up to 15km away and many windows were shattered at that distance. Even those that live around Adekoya street, while running where thrown of their feet...
Some of the undetonated bombs were thrown into the air due to the blasts, later falling on houses and people. 
This not only shows the bombs intensity but also shows the shock wave produced was enormous... It could only be likened to a fighter plane dropping bombs on the ground and you hearing the explosion getting louder and louder

2. Nobody knew what was happening: Imagine taking a casual nap at home and suddenly BOOOM!, you hear a sound so loud it literally blew your ear drums, rushing out you find people running helter-skelter, you join them but keep asking what is happening but no one can provide any useful information. What do you do?? You run of course'? To where'? Anywhere as long as its far away from where you heard the explosion... Even till today many people are still clueless as to what happend 13yrs old.

3. The Bomb(s) Explosion didnt Kill many People. A Canal Did: 
In the midst of that confusion and total disarray.. Many people fled for their lives, Old, Young, middle-aged, sick, healthy, but just when they thought they have found safety, hundreds of people ran to their doom, along the way some got caught up in a stampede while others had to jump from storey buildings, but the most devastating of them all was the hundreds who died in a large canal. 


The canal occupies from north to south parallel to the Isolo-Oshodi expressway, and a banana plantation borders it, there by creating an image that it was safe, Alas! That thing that looked like grasses bordering a banana plantation wasnt actually grasses but a canal! Covered by a water hyacinth( a free-floating plant that) and thus invisible in the dark.

As the crowd surged towards the plantation, hundreds of them fell into the canal, those already in it where crushed by yet more falling people and in the ensuing confusion more than 600 people lost their lives many of them Children.

4. No One Knew there was an Amunition Depot nearby.: Unless of course the military personnels, civilians werent allowed into that vicinity, hence many of them didnt know that just a stone throw from where they live an ammunition storage was present. 

5. This would have been averted but for Gross Negligence:
Before that explosion, it turned out that there was a smaller explosion that occured a year before following which the army were advised by city officials to either remove or modernise the armoury but sadly no action was taken.

More than 12,000 people were rendered homeless with some others Missing..... In a gory event that all the more teaches us how fragile human lives are. 

IN MEMORY of the dead and missing people of the ikeja bomb blast, may their souls rest in peace. Amen