Yusufu Aminu Idegu and Marie-Therese Nalong
•Five killed in attack on Jos church, reprisal •Two dead in Borno •Pastor, wife, two children, 48 others injured in suicide bombing
It was another bloody Sunday yesterday. No fewer than seven persons died — many were injured — in attacks on two churches during service.
The nation is still mourning the death of no fewer than 153 people in the Dana Air plane crash in Lagos on June 3. Also on that day, 14 people were killed in an attack on two churches in Bauchi.
In Jos, the Plateau State capital, yesterday’s suicide attack was the third on worshippers since January.
The second attack was at the Church of the Brethren in Nigeria in Biu, 180 kilometres to Maiduguri, the Borno State capital.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attacks.
Joint Task Force (JTF) spokesman Lt. Victor Ebhaleme told AFP on the telephone in Maiduguri that two people died and an unspecified number injured during the attack in Biu. Borno State Police Commissioner Bala Hassan said one person died and three others were injured.
Hassan said the police had made appreciable progress in the investigation of the attack by “four young men’’ on Ekkilizia Yanuwa A Nigeria (EYN) Church on Gombe -Biu road. The police chief told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that his command had tightened security in vulnerable areas and would continue to do its best to ensure the safety of lives and property.
“The attack on the church on Gombe-Biu Road happened around 9 a.m when four young men fired at a church during which one person died and three others were injured.
“The attackers fled shortly after, but the police recovered a pistol, one of the weapons used during the attack,’’ Hassan said.
Only on Friday, a suicide bomber rammed his car into the barricaded portion of the command’s headquarters in Maiduguri. Five persons died; 12 were injured. The dead are a policeman, three civilians and the suicide bomber
The suicide attack on worshippers at the Christ Chosen Church of God (CCCG) on Rukuba Road in Jos and the reprisal that followed led to the death of no fewer than 10 people, including the suicide bomber.
Over 50 worshippers have been killed in the three attacks on churches so far.
Source said the original target of the suicide bombers was ECWA Church located about 50 meters away from CCCG, but there was a security check point before their target. The bombers diverted the explosives to the CCCG Church. The explosives, apparently, was timed.
The church building came down on about 200 worshippers.
Witnesses said many people, including the suicide bomber, died.
Mr Manasseh Pampe, a senior official of the Red Cross Society, told NAN that it was difficult to ascertain the figure as yet.
An eyewitness, Mr Richard Jonah, said the bomber entered through the church gate after deceiving the security personnel that he was a member coming for service.
Jonah said the suicide bomber, who drove a Volkswagen Golf saloon car, posed as a member of the church and was admitted to the premises by the security personnel.
“But, immediately he entered into the premises, he drove straight into the church building and hit the structure with the bomb-laden vehicle while the second service was still going on,’’ he said.
An official of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Mr Tajudeen Olanrewaju, also declined to be specific on the casualty figure.
“As you can see, we are still evacuating those injured to hospitals. For now, we cannot give you any clear figure,’’ he said.
Pastor Monday Uzoka of CCCG, his wife and two children are among the 52 victims of the suicide attack.
A NAN correspondent, who visited the Jos University Teaching Hospital (JUTH), was told by medical personnel that Uzoka and another church elder were in “very critical situation”.
The rest of the 50 victims were on admission at the Bingham University Teaching Hospital (BUTH).
Mrs. Maria Goni, BUTH’s Director of Nursing Services, said the duo were transferred to JUTH “because they were in a serious condition and in dire need of surgery”.
“Right now, we have 50 persons on admission in our hospital. In fact, we are still counting and may have more. When we are through with counting, we shall know the exact figure we have.
“We have people with orthopeadic and laceration cases among others, but we are doing our best to treat them,” she said.
She said no death had so far been recorded among the victims brought to the hospital.
The Red Cross International and the government of Plateau State had rendered help in the provision of drugs and other consumables.
Among the victims were the elderly, women and children, who suffered various degrees of injuries from the blast.
One of the victims, Mrs. Esther Emmanuel, 35, said that four of her children - Chigozie (11), Victor (3), Ikechukwu (8) and Chidinma (12) were also on admission.
Another victim, Mrs. Mercy Francis, 45, said her six-year-old daughter, Blessing, had “disappeared” during the blast and called on the authorities to help locate her.
“That is the only daughter I have. Please, tell them to help me to trace her where ever she may be, especially since I can’t get another child like her at my age now,” Francis cried out.
Soon after the blast, youths went violent. Security agencies were denied access to the scene. The angry youths prevented also journalists from getting to the scene. They came out in their thousands to barricade the road leading to the scene.
A Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) crew, which made efforts to get to the scene, was attacked by the angry youths.
Security agencies rescued a team of journalists from been lynched. The NTA vehicle was vandalised by the hoodlums.
A Channels Television reporter, Yemi Kosoko, and his cameraman, John Farinola, also escaped attack. Journalists converged on the state headquarters of the police in protest.
Police chief Emmanuel Oladipo Ayeni said: “Information reached my office at about 11am that there was a suicide bombing at Christ Chosen Church of God (CCCD). I immediately led a team of my men to the scene for rescue operation.
“On reaching there, we saw no death, although the entire church building collapsed. We evacuated the injured worshippers, 42 of them, to the hospital. We took 36 injured victims to Bingham University teaching Hospital (BUTH) and we took six others to the Plateau Specialist Hospital.
“There were two deaths around the premises and we are yet to ascertain what killed them. I hope investigation will reveal soon what caused their death, but I can confidently tell you that the explosion did not kill anyone apart from the suicide bomber.”
When asked why the security agencies’ strategies to forestall another suicide bombing in Jos could not stop the attack, Ayeni said: “Look my friend, it is difficult for security agencies to checkmate a suicide bombing attack because the attackers have already committed their lives to death and they can do anything to succeed. This particular attack could not be prevented because the church is located by the road side, which made it impossible for the church to block the road completely.
“This is not to say there was leakage in the security strategies we adopted after the last two suicide bombings; our strategies are fool-proof, but now that they have done this, we will know what to do next.”
“But I will confirm to you that this attack is a failed one because it did not result in death of any of the worshippers; there were only injuries and that shows our strategies are working. This kind of attack is a new challenge and we will tackle it as it comes,” said Ayeni.
On the allegation that the suicide bomber’s vehicle was led by a Hilux belonging to STF, the police commissioner said: “I also heard of this same rumour, no one can say the rumour is true or false, but investigation will confirm it. The security agencies have already swung into action and the result surrounding this attack will be made public soon.
The Special Task Force (STF) on Jos crisis confirmed the attack but was silent on the allegation against it men. The STF said the attack by hoodlums following the suicide bombing led to the death of four motorcycle riders.
STF spokesman, Captain Markus Mdahyelya, who signed the statement, said: “About four cyclists were killed and their motorcycles burnt along Rukuba road close to the scene of attack.”
The state government spoke of its pain whenever its citizens are subjected to pains of this nature.
Commissioner for Information Yiljap Abraham, said: “Government is again thrown into grief. This is so painful because the Plateau State government, in collaboration with the Federal Government, has put in place all that is needed to prevent bloodshed in this state.
“This is another challenge and I’m sure the security will do their best to rise up to the challenges.
Yiljap expressed the government sympathy with victims of the attack.
Written by NEWSTRAWL ONLINE UPDATE
Sodiq Oyeleke is a Media, Human Resources, Project Management and Public Relations Practitioner
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