More missing persons found, bombs still litter Lagos

Aid workers said on Friday that many people missing as a result of this week's disaster at a munitions depot in Lagos had been reunited with their families, but fears persisted over threats posed by unexploded bombs that litter Nigeria’s biggest city. The Nigerian Red Cross said 535 people were still missing out of 1,855 people being sought by relatives after the munitions depot at the Ikeja Military Cantonment went up in flames on Sunday, raining bombs and mortar shells on the city of 12 million. More than 600 people died. Most of them drowned in the murky waters of a drainage canal as they fled in panic. "To date we have linked up 1,320 people to their families, with only three still left in our custody," Patrick Bawa, Red Cross spokesman, told IRIN. "But 355 children and 180 adults are still missing." However, many residents of the worst hit district, Ikeja, complain that very little has been done to get rid of unexploded ordnance in their area, located to the north of the city. Angry soldiers who lived at the military base pelted the motorcade of Vice-President Atiku Abubakar with water bottles on Thursday to protest against the slow government response in clearing the explosives and providing them with emergency assistance. "Bombs are still scattered all over the cantonment four days after the explosions," Lance Corporal Lanre Adepoju told IRIN. "And the relief assistance announced on television is yet to reach us. That is why we are angry." A Lagos daily, Thisday, reported US Ambassador to Nigeria Howard Jeter as saying his government was responding to a request from Nigeria to help deal with unexploded munitions scattered in parts of the city. "We actually have a survey team that is coming from the US military this weekend. They will work with the Nigerian military on the whole issue of non-exploded weapons to avoid further tragedy," Thisday quoted him as saying in its Friday edition. In response to complaints about the distribution of relief, President Olusegun Obasanjo’s government has directed that the materials be given directly to the affected people instead of through third parties. "The problem we have is that relief materials get stuck with the military officers, that is why there is resentment towards the government," Ben Murray-Bruce, a representative of the Ministry of Information, told journalists on Thursday. Meanwhile, relief materials have been coming from the different arms of government, local and international aid agencies and foreign governments. The UN Children’s Fund and the World Health Organisation have been providing medical supplies, health personnel, clean water and sanitation facilities at camps set up for displaced people. The government of Algeria has provided 20 mt of medical supplies. The Red Cross has been feeding displaced people daily at the camps since the disaster occurred. "Today we will start the distribution of non-food items," Bawa said.