The father of one of the victims of the suicide bomb attack in Damaturu, Yobe State, said that he came out of the house and saw his son wrestling with the suicide bomber before the bomb went off killing his 19-yr-old son Hassan Mohammed Damagum.
Mohammed, a pre-degree student at the Yobe State University, was one of the victims that died along side with the suicide bomber near a mosque at the Gen. Mohammadu Buhari Estate on Wednesday morning.
Garba Babayo, who gave a chilling account of the incident, also recalled his last discussion with his son before he died.
“Early this (Wednesday) morning, we heard a heavy sound of a bomb and my son said he would go out and see what was happening. It was not long when I also followed. By the time I came out, I saw him wrestling and struggling with the suicide bomber. Everything just happened like in a speed of light and the bomb went off. “When the bomb exploded, I saw my son in pieces with the suicide bomber. His head was cut off from his body. His leg was on another side and some of his parts were scattered on the street”, Garba Babayo narrated.
Talking about his son, Babayo disclosed that he just got admission into the pre-degree programme of Yobe State University and was in the process of his registration.
“My son is 19 yrs old trying to gain admission into Yobe State University. In fact, he went to the hospital yesterday (Tuesday) to collect his medical certificate. He showed me the certificate telling me that ‘I will go and continue with my registration tomorrow (Thursday); unknown to us he cannot continue with that programme and his entire life on this earth,” he said.
One of the victims at the hospital apparently from the Fulani settlement informed that two insurgents came to their area at about 5.30am in the morning and ordered them to gather in one place, after which one of them blew himself in their midst.
“Two of them came; the other one was holding a gun and the other one was not talking. The one with the gun asked us to come out and gather in one place. When we gathered, he sent the other one who was not talking at the centre of us and started going away. That was the time the one in our midst detonated his bomb in his body,” he narrated.
Another eyewitness, Adamu Idriss, disclosed that the suicide bomber at the shopping centre inside Buhari Estate came asking for a drug store to buy medicine and the people were suspicious of his character.
Some people were very suspicious of him when he came and they went close to him to ask him some questions. He was looking for a Chemist(drug store) and the people around were not satisfied that somebody living in that area will have no knowledge of what he was asking for. When some people went close to interrogate him, it was that time that we heard the sound of a bomb, gbuaaaaa!,” Adamu informed.
