SOLDIERS patrolled the streets of Kaduna on Monday, a day after at least 10 people were killed and 145 wounded in a suicide church bombing and reprisal.
Many residents remained indoors as soldiers mounted checkpoints and frisked motorists and passers-by. A number of businesses were also shut following the attack.
Christian mobs had roamed the area near the church in the Malali neighbourhood on Sunday after the attack, targeting people they presumed to be Muslims, including one man who was reportedly burnt alive.
On Monday, residents said roadblocks were mounted around the scene of the blast and the two flashpoint districts of Goni-Gora and Tudun-Wada.
“There has been heavy military deployment since yesterday following the attack. This morning, two armoured cars and more troops arrived in these areas,” said Emmanuel Mayaki, a resident of Goni-Gora.
Another resident, Hadila Johnson, spoke of an increased presence of soldiers and a number of checkpoints. He said the roads leading to the church were cordoned off by soldiers.
Military spokesman, Colonel Sani Usman, told AFP the heavy presence of soldiers was “to restore law and order.”
The attack on the church during the morning service left at least seven people dead in addition to the bomber, while at least three people were killed in reprisal. The bomb attack wounded 145 people.
Although no group has claimed responsibility for the church blast, the incident was similar to previous attacks blamed on Islamist extremist group Boko Haram.
Boko Haram’s insurgency in northern and central Nigeria is believed to have left more than 2,800 people dead since 2009, including killings by the security forces.
The group has claimed to be seeking an Islamic state in Nigeria, though its demands have repeatedly shifted.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported that 146 victims were admitted at Barau Dikko, St. Gerard’s and 44 military hospitals in Kaduna.
NAN also reported that 35 of the injured victims were still receiving treatment at the three hospitals on Monday.
The figure was released during a visit to the hospitals by officials of the state chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN).
According to the administrator of St Gerard’s Hospital, Sister Theresa Dung, 14 victims were brought to the hospital and two had been discharged.
Theresa said that four of the victims on admission at the hospital were children.
At the Barau Dikko Hospital, the CAN officials were told that out of the 97 victims of the Sunday bomb blast, only 18 were left.
The team leader of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Mr Aly Ouattara, who was seen treating some of the patients, said that the hospital had discharged 79 patients who were in stable condition.
NAN reported that officials at the army hospital confirmed that 30 patients had also been discharged while five were still receiving treatment.
In his remarks, the state CAN chairman, Reverend Samuel Kujiyat, said “in this situation, we are also grateful to God because we cannot question Him for allowing the attack.
“We are giving thanks because the attack was not more than this, and we pray for speedy recovery of the victims.”
Kujiyat dispelled the rumour on the death of the St. Rita’s Catholic Church priest, adding that “he is alive and stable at the Multiclinic Hospital in Kaduna.”
Kaduna State governor, Mr Patrick Yakowa, has said that terrorists attack on Kaduna would not deter his administration from providing the much needed development in the state and assured that his government would cater for the wounded currently responding to treatment in hospitals.
The governor, who spoke on Monday shortly after he cut short an overseas trip and returned to the state capital, however, thanked the clergy, media, the security and other stakeholders for coming to the aide of the victims and for containing the aftermath of the incident.
Yakowa, together with other government officials, after visiting the bomb explosion site at Saint Rita’s Catholic Church, said apart from the attack on One Division of the Nigerian Army, Kaduna, the suicide attack on worshipers was daring and unprecedented, despite the level of security in the state.
According to him, “it was a daring effort and the one I can compare to this is the attempt by the suicide bomber to attack One Mechanised Division of the Nigerian Army.
“For me, it was not a failure on the part of the security men in the state, the suicide bomber was said to have hit the wall of the church and went in straight into the church, but we thank God that the level of the damage was controlled by the fence before the vehicle found its way into the church, otherwise it is not what we are saying now that would have been the case.
“They were more than 1,000 worshipers in the church… and look at the neighbouring houses, they have all their roofs shattered. Even the noise of the blast could be heard in the town. Let us thank God because the damage of human lives would have been uncountable. As I am speaking, we got the numbers of death as four, as we have gone round.”
The JNI Secreatry-General, Dr Khalid Aliyu Abubakar, in a statement, said “the Sultan of Sokoto and President-General, JNI, Alhaji Muhammadu Sa’ad Abubakar, received with bewilderness the news of the bombing at Unguwar Yero-Malali, Kaduna, which happened on Sunday, October 28, at a church during the Sunday service.
“We condemn the act in its totality and call for calm and restrain. It is our prayers that the perpetrators behind the act will never succeed in causing chaos in Kaduna.
“However, we implore the security agents to be more vigilant and intensify measures of curbing this dastardly act of bombings. As for those affected, we pray for a better return of what they have lost and also the families of those who lost their lives, may Allah grant them the fortitude to bear the loss.
“Finally, Jama’atu Nasril Islam calls on all Muslim Ummah to always intensify prayers to Allah to bring an end to this kind of situation and ensure peace and tranquility in our country and we pray against future occurrence.”
The Archbishop of Kaduna Catholic Diocese, Bishop Matthew Man’oso Ndagoso, who said he was inundated with calls from the United States of America (USA), Italy and other countries on the blasts, said “this is an evident that the devil is at work.
“But, you know, as the Bible tells us, the sword of the battle is in the hands of God. As long as we live in the hands of God, He knows best. The devil is running round, looking for someone to destroy. But as Christian body, we must hold unto our faith, inspite of all these challenges.
“It is just a reality that is staring us in the face, things that we usually look at on television like CNN, bomb blast far away from Nigeria, but today the bomb blast is with us.
“We can never run away from our country, we have to remain here and pray for our country. So I sincerely thank officials of the Kaduna State Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) for coming to feel the pains with us because it had happened. There is nothing we can do than to give thanks to God that in spite of what happened, it was not everybody that died, many are still alive, including the priest of the bombed church.
“We continue to give God the glory who is always in control, and He will continue to be in control. It is just unfortunate that people are being indoctrinated, and that is a problem. If you are to meet people in both Islam and Christianity, you will know that both religion preach peace.
“It is wonderful that Christianity community has been able to accept this positively, if not, only God knows what Kaduna would have been by now. So it is our sincere prayer that God will take absolute control in all that happened.
“On behalf of the Bishop, I will continue to insist on Christian representatives, Muslim representatives, all denominations to go back home and tell the aggrieved youth to calm down. It is well.
“These are strategies certain people are using to plunge this country into a religious war, and we must not let them succeed. We must leave everything in the hands of God.”
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