On January 27, 2002, Mr. Olakunle Akinlabi, a shoe designer, upon witnessing billows of smoke and the staccato of earth-shattering explosions, thought the world was coming to an end. He had left his house at Onigbongbo, Ikeja to visit a friend in Surulere when the pandemonium broke out with blasts at the Nigerian Army Cantonment in Ikeja.
As he reached Palm Groove in Lagos, loud bangs and dark smoke filled the sky. Rumours spread about a bomb exploding in Maryland, destroying everything.
“I summoned courage late in the evening in the midst of the blast and went to my house located behind the Ikeja Cantonment, only to find everywhere deserted. The house was wrecked, people had abandoned their homes and shops. I had to sleep in an empty mosque that night,” Akinlabi shared with The Record.
On that fateful Sunday, *Mrs. Zainab Ayoola, nine months pregnant, sat in her living room when a loud bang shook the house. Filled with fear, she ventured out from her home on Ajejunle Street, Onigbongbo, seeking to know the cause.
Her neighbour joined her, speculating that it might be a military coup attempt by disgruntled soldiers to overthrow the then President Olusegun Obasanjo.
Later in the evening, when her husband returned from the mosque, the explosions intensified, causing the ceiling of her living room to collapse. That was when they realized something serious was happening.
“The next thing we saw was that there was fire inside the barracks and it was as if the fire was coming closer to us. My husband told me to run. I left him and ran to our family house down this street in Onigbongbo thinking it was safer but it got worse. I left there again and ran all the way to Ojota to my parents house,” she shared with The Record.
The Blast
The Ikeja Cantonment, located north of Lagos near Isolo and Onigbongo, was a sizable Nigerian Army living and storage area. In January 2002, it stored high-caliber bombs and other explosives. On January 27 2002, a fire erupted in a street market beside the base, where soldiers’ families lived. Around 18:00, the fire seemingly reached the main munitions store, causing a massive explosion.
This killed many base staff and families, destroyed nearby streets, and triggered fires elsewhere. Tremors from the blast collapsed buildings, shattered windows 15 km away, and had an impact over 50 km inland.
The explosion threw up unexploded military munitions, raining shells, grenades, and bullets across the northern part of the city. People from Ikeja and neighbouring areas fled their homes, causing chaos. Amidst the fleeing crowds, explosions from falling shells intensified panic, leading to a stampede.
Desperate attempts to cross the Ikeja dual carriageway resulted in casualties, including people jumping from burning high-rise buildings and drowning in a nearby canal which runs from north to south parallel to the Isolo-Oshodi expressway.
Damilola Adisa, a food content creator, had a more devastating experience than Mrs. Ayoola. The blast left her family with nothing, as their flat was among the buildings destroyed.
Fortunately, they had travelled to visit their father, a soldier in Ibadan during the blast. They later learned their flat was part of the destruction, realizing they might have been killed if had been home.
To this day, reminders of their losses surface, particularly when needing important documents. “All my siblings and I no longer have birth certificates until we recently did an affidavit for new ones,” Adisa shared with The Record.
Victoria Thomas vividly recalls the traffic and stampede caused by the blast, even though she was only around five years old at the time. Playing outside with her neighbour in the Olusosun axis of Lagos, they heard continuous loud vibrations shaking their home’s windows.
With the Sunday rice still on the table, they swiftly grabbed the cooler, placed it in the car’s trunk, and drove towards the Omole area in Lagos. Amidst chaotic traffic and ongoing tremors, they witnessed a crowd of people running.
“People were in clusters. From what I remembered, a lot of people died because they were running with no direction,” Thomas said.
The Memorial
On February 10, 2002, President Bola Tinubu, then Lagos State Government, established a memorial site at Oke-Afa, Ejigbo, in memory of victims who jumped into the canal during the bomb blast pandemonium.
Located near the canal bridge linking Isolo with Ejigbo, the site has reportedly faced neglect. The Foundation for Investigative Journalism in 2022 highlighted overgrown weeds, cobwebs on railings, and parts of the backyard caving into the canal.
Expressing dismay, Alhaji Omale, the father of a victim, lamented to Hum Angle, “The poor state of this memorial site is a disrespect to the deceased, and this disregard really hurts.”
*Mrs. Ogechi Kalu, a soldier’s wife currently residing in the Nigerian Army Cantonment, still carries scars from the 2002 blast. Reflecting on that fateful day, she somberly recounted the stampede at the Army Cantonment gate, where everyone was desperate to flee.
“My sisters and I were separated for two months because we ran away from the barracks and couldn’t locate each other. I lived under the bridge, squatting with friends before my father found us separately. That blast led to the high blood pressure which eventually killed him a few years ago. It is a day I try to forget but I can’t,” she shared with our correspondent.
Kalu also revealed that the bomb blast site had become farmland until recently when farmers were instructed to evacuate the area.
“Some farmers reported tiny sounds of explosions in the farmland. That’s why the military recently came to extract the bombs,” she disclosed, commending the military’s swift response to prevent another potential explosion.
On October 10, 2023, the Nigerian Army initiated “Exercise Clean Sweep” to clear remnants from the 2002 Ikeja Cantonment Bomb Blast site. In November 2023, Brig. Gen. Onyema Nwachukwu, the Director of Public Relations, announced the recovery of 642 unexploded bombs from the Ikeja Military Cantonment.
“The search and recovery phase of the exercise has been concluded, transitioning into the final inspection of the site, which has earnestly commenced.
“A final Unexploded Ordnance Disposal task is scheduled for completion of the site inspection on Saturday, November 18, 2023, at the Nigerian Army Range in Owode Ajilete, Ogun State,” Nwachukwu said in a statement to alert and assure residents in the vicinity of safe operations.
The recent “Exercise Clean Sweep” operation by the Nigerian Army to clear remnants from the blast site reflects a crucial step in addressing the lingering aftermath of this tragic event.
22 years later, the resilience of individuals affected by the tragedy has become a poignant narrative. From Mr Akinlabi’s night in an empty mosque to Mrs. Ayoola’s harrowing escape, the stories vividly capture the chaos and despair.
As Ikeja residents honour the memories of those lost, they reflect on the harrowing experience, celebrating the triumph of hope over despair, demonstrating that even in the face of adversity, a community can rise, rebuild, and write a new chapter of resilience.
*Name changed to protect source’s identity
