Christina Pfister

Guest Writer

At 5:15pm on Sunday night the Ikeja Army Cantonement, an ammunitions depot in the middle of the GRA residential area in Lagos, Nigeria, exploded, sending burning balls of fire heavenwards and propelling shrapnel and shockwaves across the city.

Over 600 people- most of them children and babies- were killed and thousands were robbed of their homes as houses collapsed, doors were ripped off, and windows shattered.

Lagos, the commercial capitol of Nigeria, is home to Calvin College juniors, Grace and Stella Yakubu. In an interview they said that their family escaped the house in panic as the ground shook and lamps crashed down from the ceiling.

Residents initially feared that a military invasion was taking place.

As they ran for their lives, some slipped into the swampy Oke Afa drainage canal nearby and either drowned or were trampled to death.

According to the BBC, ``Bodies have also been found inside the military compound housing the depot. Others died as artillery shells ripped through densely populated suburbs.''

The ammunitions depot was filled with heavy armament, heavy caliber bombs, and other military hardwares- some of which continued exploding for days.

``There is an accident in the armoury depot... an accident of high caliber bombs and they will continue to explode for sometime,'' said Brig.Gen. George Ndem, after apologizing for what happened.

In response to the fear that an invasion was taking place, both the Lagos State Governor, Senator Bola Tinubu, and the Brigadier-General have declared officially that the fire was an accident and not a military action. Shells, which haven't exploded yet, are still lying on the ground and are endangering the population.

Nigeria's President, Olusegun Obasanjo, visited the site on Monday and, despite the interruption of a ``small blast'', promised that the military would investigate the cause of the explosions and bring separated families back together.

Still, many residents of Lagos, mostly slum inhabitants and members of the working class- the most immediately affected population- are filled with rage. According to them smaller, unreported explosions had happened in the same depot before. Many wondered why the military didn't act earlier.