In May 2014, the Terminus area of Jos, in Plateau State was hit by twin bomb explosions; one of many the state experienced but by far the deadliest. A decade after the incident, Weekend Trust revisits the past to dig into one of Boko Haram’s deadliest attempts to bring Jos city to its knees. Survivors recall the events of the horrible attack that claimed the lives of at least 118 people and forever changed many lives.
Ten years ago, the ground shook at the Terminus area of Jos city, in Plateau State. The vibrations shattered windows and a massive fire engulfed the area. Flames bursted through shops, vehicles and consumed human flesh. In an instant, the streets of Jos were littered with rubble, human body parts and millions of broken maize grains.
Not much was left of the dismembered Peugeot J5 Boxer that cloaked the explosive device in tons of maize grains. Only the rage that busted from its belly while moving steadily through a traffic jam on a hot Tuesday afternoon.
As a dark smoke covered the sky, a second bomb tore through a Toyota Sienna, parked about 50 metres away. The city of Jos, had been struck by a terrorist attack, and within minutes, over 100 lives perished, many were injured and dozens of shops and vehicles destroyed.
Ten years since the deadly explosion, the acrid odour of roasting human flesh, mingled with fabrics, fruits and vegetables have been masked by an unpleasant smell of urine and fresh tobacco in the air. The wailings of victims have given way to blasting gospel music, and the bloodstains and ashes that once coloured the streets have been scrubbed clean. New asphalt lay over the crater that once bore evidence of the ferocious bomb explosion.
In essence, all traces of the tragic event of May 20, 2014 have been erased. Life has returned to the Terminus area, and the world has largely forgotten the carnage that took place. But for many survivors, the scars remain fresh.
Into the events of May 20, 2014
In the heart of Jos, the Terminus area stands as the city’s most cosmopolitan economic hub. Over the years, it has gained notoriety for congestion and disorder. It houses an old railway station, a bustling bus station, and the temporary site of the Jos University Teaching Hospital (JUTH). The Terminus area is also home to the magnificent but now abandoned Terminus Main market; once the largest indoor market in West Africa. The market’s gates were closed in 2002 after an explosion compromised its structure, spilling traders onto the streets and making the area one of the busiest, most crowded, and disorganised in Jos.
But the Terminus area also symbolises Jos city’s once inter-tribal and inter-religious legacy that no other part of the city could match. Here, the invisible lines of ethno-religious living arrangements that define modern day Jos were missing, thus earning it the phrase, “neutral grounds.” And so, many witnesses believed it was this sense of inclusion, congestion and disorder that Boko Haram capitalised on to garner mass-casualty on May 20, 2014.
