Like their counterparts across the country, many residents of Ilorin, Kwara State, went to bed on August 31, looking forward to September as the beginning of a new chapter.
On September 1, the first call to prayer had just been made at a mosque near Popo-Giwa in Ilorin, Kwara State, when Mallam Kudus Olarewaju began contemplating whether to get up and perform ablution.
It was a few minutes after 5 am on that Tuesday and, like many residents of the area, Olarewaju was preparing for the early morning prayer.
Nothing suggested that the next few minutes would turn his family home into a scene of death and mourning.
Then, suddenly, he heard a loud sound. “Gbaa!” The sound jolted everyone awake.
