But for the alertness of a private security guard, hundreds of people would have been killed in the Sunday morning multiple blasts that rocked the Evangelical Church Winning All in Angwan Yanshi of Tudun Wada area of Jos North Local Government Area of Plateau State.
The incident came as multiple acts of terror were also recorded around Maiduguri Saturday night.
A bomber detonated his explosives in a bus at a Maiduguri motor park, killing four people including himself. Other blasts targeted the Maiduguri office of the Department of State Security Service. The insurgents were also said to have mounted roadblocks around Damagum and set many vehicles ablaze.
But in the Jos church blast, an eye witness told our correspondent that the church was full to the brim with worshippers who came for the first morning service when one of the bombs went off.
The eyewitness, who gave his name as Garuba, said that after controlling the panicky worshippers, the guard was said to have started combing the premises when he discovered another bomb near the toilet.
The brave guard did not wait to alert anybody as he quickly picked the lethal parcel and threw it over the fence. The parcel exploded spontaneously, missing him just by a whisker. He however sustained minor injuries from the flying shrapnel.
Men of the anti-bomb squad were later called in. When they were combing the area, another improvised electronic devise (IED) was discovered in an abandoned kiosk, some 10 metres away.
Officer in charge of Anti-bomb in the Plateau State Police Command, Mr. Abel Mbibi, told our correspondent on Sunday that his men were able to detonate the bomb safely, with no threat to lives and property.
According to him, the IED is an anti-tilted device.
“We discovered that the IED is an anti-tilted device. This means that it was constructed in such a way that it will explode any time it is turned either way by person or object. That was why it exploded immediately the guard picked it up. Our men also combed the area and we discovered the same type of bomb in an abandoned kiosk about 10 metres away,” Mbibi said.
The latest incident came less than a week after suicide bombers attacked the Dilimi mosque in the same Jos North Local Government Area. The ECWA Church in Tudun Wada is located near the Federal Secretariat, very close to the Jos home of Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha. One of the guards in the house told our correspondent that the explosion shook the foundation of the building and others around it.
Speaking on the blasts, the police said no one was killed from the blasts. The Police Public Relations Manager, DSP Emmanuel Abuh, said that the area was thoroughly combed after the blast and there was no further threat.
Meanwhile, a non-governmental organisation, Salvation Army, has donated 250 bags of rice and other relief materials to the Internally Displaced Persons’ camp at Bondon village, Kaura Local Government Area in Southern Kaduna, Kaduna State.
The Coordinator, Mrs. Comfort Adepoju, while presenting the relief material to victims of attacks by gunmen at Bondon village, Kaura LGA, also sought for the establishment of a health centre in the area.
She argued that setting up a health centre by the state government would drastically curb mortality rate in the area.
The organisation distributed items such as 240 bags (of 25kg) of rice; some other 10kg bags for each family; packets of magi and salt; vegetable oil (three litres) for each family; cardigans for children as well as 1,750 blankets to help cushion the cold weather.
According to her, the need for the establishment of a health centre in the area was necessary considering the magnitude of lives lost due to lack of emergency care for victims of the attacks.
She said the need for an establishment of a health centre in the area was necessary considering the magnitude of lives lost due to lack of emergency care for victims of the attacks.
She noted that most of the casualties of the attacks were those who died before being rushed to hospitals in Jos, Plateau State.
She said, “It is reported that a lot of injured persons died as a result of lack of prompt medical care while women have had miscarriages and died during such attacks.
“If only there was at least one health centre in the area, the situation may have been contained.
“We are told that the nearest hospitals are those in Kafanchan and Jos and these are grossly inadequate.”
She said the NGO had identified 240 families in the area who needed succour that would enable them a meaningful livelihood. She added that the families identified had lost their bread winners to the attacks.
“It is sad to hear that most of these women and children still sleep on bare floor and are exposed to hazards of the weather,” she said.
One of the beneficiaries, Musa Emmanuel, noted that it had been difficult surviving at the camp since the attacks as a result of inadequate foodstuff, beddings and other related items.
Another beneficiary, Victor Didam, said they slept on the bare floor in congested classrooms, adding that it was difficult to come by portable drinking water.
