By Marie-therese Nanlong, Jos

AS you approach the gates of the hospitals where they are receiving treatment, everyone you meet wears a mournful, gloomy look. Many of them have tears in their eyes and speak in low, sorrowful tones, while some just gaze into space.

*African Church…attacked after the blast at Yan Taya

Indeed it was a depressing atmosphere within the premises of the Plateau Specialists Hospital, Bingham University Teaching Hospital and Our Lady of Apostle, OLA, Hospital as grief-stricken relatives of the victims of the Sunday night twin blasts in Jos, the Plateau State capital, are seen either mourning their dead or taking care of their loved ones who survived with injuries.

Though high casualty fatal blasts are not new to residents of Jos,  but the most recent incident that sent many to their early graves was unexpected after over four months of lull and the fact that many could not imagine such a tragedy occurring during this period of Ramadan fast.

Senselessdeed

But, Alas, the senseless deed was done at a restaurant along the ever-busy Bauchi road as well as in a mosque at Dilimi (Yan Taya) areas of the city that fateful Sunday night when residents were attending the Ramadan Tafsir delivered by the respected Sheikh Yahaya Jingir. The perpetrators of the evil act also succeeded in pitching Christians against Muslims as a mob hurriedly set on fire two churches in the Dilimi area and attempted burning the popular ECWA Goodnews Church along Ahmadu Bello Way but for the timely intervention of security agents.

The miscreant besides burning the churches proceeded to loot nearby shops, carting away valuables and attempting to attack houses of Christians at the Nassarawa Gwong area of the city, but security agents intervened and the situation was brought under control. Attempting to speak with relatives of the victims was a herculean task as they were not in the right frame of mind to talk. Beyond responding to condolences, many refused to share experiences as understandably they were still in grief.

Getting to Ward 3 where some children injured during the incident were receiving treatment, 12 years old Ismail Musa was sleeping fitfully; he turns restlessly as the father, Musa Abubakar, tries to steady the injured head.

Abubakar said: “My son went to the mosque to listen to the preaching, now see what those evil people did to him. I used to go the mosque with him since we started Ramadan, but that day I did not go with him because I was tired. When we heard the first blast, we thought it was the tyre of a trailer that burst but when the gunshots were heard and almost immediately the second explosion came, it was confirmed that the unexpected had happened.

“I thank God my son is only injured, he will be well, Insha Allah. But others were not so lucky like him because many people died in the incident; may Allah receive their souls. The federal and state governments should work together and do whatever is necessary to bring this evil to an end.”

A middle-aged woman, Hajia Mairo Usman, while responding to questions, advised this reporter to let them be as nothing they will say will undo the tragic situation, saying: “We are mourning, this kind of evil should not be celebrated but Allah knows everything. We accept this as our fate and we pray it should not happen again.”

Another elderly man, Alhaji Musa Abdullahi, who was in the mosque at the time of the incident said: “I was sitting by the door of the mosque; immediately I heard the gunshots, I ran from where I was sitting. People were trying to stop the gunman from shooting but he sprayed them with bullets and they died instantly. Almost immediately, the bomb exploded and I fell on the ground.

“Before we knew what was happening, everywhere was littered with pieces of flesh and blood flowed freely. We came for the Ramadan Tafsir which is the tradition every Ramadan but these agents of the devil desecrated the mosque. May the soul of the dead find peace.”

A relative of one Caroline, a sales girl in the restaurant, told Vanguard Metro with tears in her eyes: “It is hard to believe that Caro lost her life while trying to earn a living. She has not stayed long in the place before this evil incident.

They don’t stay that late but because of this Ramadan, people go there to eat after breaking the fast. She was working there to raise some money but she lost her life before she could get the money; it is really sad. I just pray that this thing should end because it is becoming too much.”

Speaking on the situation, the State Commissioner of Police, Nasiru Oki, said the first blast which occurred at Bauchi road at a Shangaliku restaurant was carried out by “two women suicide bombers who walked into the restaurant and detonated the bomb and the second took place at Izala Mosques, Yan Taya and coordinated by shooting.”

The Police Boss described the burning of the two churches as “barbaric” and appealed to the people of the state to remain calm as “necessary security measures have been put in place by the Police to ensure the safety of lives and property.”

The CP also presented unexpended devices recovered from the first scene. A Police bomb expert, Abel Mbibi, said “the recovered locally manufactured device was capable of destroying the entire complex which houses the restaurant”, adding that would have been the case “had the entire device exploded during the incident.”