Seven UNIJOS students among dead victims of Jos Bomb Blast

Seven students of the Medical Laboratory Science Department of the University of Jos were among the dead victims of Tuesday’s twin bomb blasts at the Terminal Market in Jos, Plateau State.

   They were said to be final year students of the department. Three of them were said to be members of the Redeemed Christian Fellowship.

The students   were going to their hostels after receiving lectures at the old campus of the university when they met their death.

One of their friends, Miss Vivian Eke, disclosed this on Wednesday as the death toll in the   blasts rose by 15.

The PUNCH had reported on Thursday that 150 people were killed by the bombs. The state Commissioner of Police, Chris Olakpe, had put the casualty figure at 46 even though he admitted that it could be higher.

Eke, who was at the mortuary of the state specialist hospital, Jos to identify the bodies, told our correspondent that the seven students were all friends.

She said, “We called them ‘the clique’ because they were always together. Their lectures had just ended at Gangere (old campus) and they were going to take a bus to their hostel before they were caught up in the blasts. They were final year students and   members of the RCF.

However,   Ismaila Suleiman, a 23-year- old Computer Science student of a private computer school in Jos was fortunate.

Recuperating Suleiman, who lives in the Dogon Karfe area of Jos, told The PUNCH that after   his   lectures, he went to the terminus to deliver a message.

“After school hours, I went to the terminus to deliver a message and as I was walking along the road, I heard   a deafening sound. I went blind   until I found myself at the hospital,” he said.

Students of UNIJOS   boycotted lectures on Wednesday to mourn their colleagues. When our correspondent visited the institution, it was like a graveyard.

Also most of the primary and secondary schools in the city were empty as parents and guardians kept their children and wards at home.

When contacted on the death of the seven students, the Assistant Registrar, Publications and Protocol, UNIJOS, Mr. Steve Otowo, said bodies of two of them had been identified.

He however declined to give the names of the deceased in order not to create panic among students and parents.

“All students, especially those in the Medical Laboratory Science Department, have been directed to come to the campus with their identity cards today for verification,”Otowo added.

He said he had been going round hospitals in the city looking for missing members of staff and students.

Otowo also said the institution was compiling a full list of victims from the university community.


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