Suicide bomber kills 8 in Kaduna church - 2 killed in reprisals

[DT]

A suicide bomber yesterday attacked a Church in Anguwan Yero, Badarawa, Kaduna, killing at least eight people, while dozens of people sustained various degrees of injuries, witnesses have said.  The bomber whose identity was not revealed up to press time was said to have driven a jeep, a Honda CRV, right inside St. Rita's Catholic Church at about 8:25am after the Sunday service had just begun. No one had claimed responsibility at press time.

Daily Trust correspondent was able to establish that four dead bodies were deposited at the Barau Dikko Specialist Hospital, while two were deposited at Garkuwa Hospital, all in Kaduna metropolis.

But spokesman of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) Yusha'u Shuaibu said the agency's rescue team had confirmed by 1: 45pm yesterday that eight people died from the blast while over 100 were receiving treatment for wounds at different hospitals.

Reuters news agency also quoted an unnamed official as saying that the incident triggered reprisal attack which killed at least two people bringing the death toll to eight.

Kaduna State Commissioner of Police, Olufemi Adenaike, visited the scene soon after the attack, saying that the police were trying to gather facts on the number of those killed or injured.

There was no official death toll from the police at press time but a police source had earlier put the toll at four, saying that many have sustained different degrees of injuries.

"This is as at now. We are still gathering the facts. If the number changes, police would communicate," the source said.

Some witnesses said the death toll could be as high as 12. They said the dead included children.

"I was walking towards the Church when he came in high speed and nearly hit me. As I was attempted to protest his action, I saw him park his car before he sped off into the church through the wall.

A church member who gave his name as Mr. John said: "This led to the collapse of the wall and a significant damage to the part of the church. Many people, mostly children, were injured. I can't tell the exact number of people that lost their lives but the number may be high because many people were inside the church when the attack occurred while many members were outside, about to make their way into the church and the children that normally have their service outside the church building."

As at the time Daily Trust arrived the scene, charred body of the suicide bomber littered the premises. Two dead bodies were also seen lying at the church premises.

Many of the injured were taken to Garkuwa Hospital at Sultan Road in Kaduna metropolis. At the hospital, our correspondent saw medical personnel busy treating the victims, most of them women and children.

Fifteen injured victims were seen at the Garkuwa hospital while a source at the hospital told our correspondent that two corpses were deposited at the hospital's morgue.

Many other victims were taken to 44 Army Reference Hospital, St. Gerald and Barau Dikko Hospitals in Kaduna metropolis. According to a staff of Barau Dikko Hospital, four dead bodies were deposited in the hospital while over 50 people were receiving treatment.

In the same vein, 14 people were receiving treatment at the St. Gerald Hospital but no dead body was deposited at the hospital, our reporter gathered.

A traffic warder was sighted at the 44 Army Reference Hospital searching for the whereabouts of his wife. The warder gave the name of his wife as Rose, saying that she was at the Church when the blast occurred.

Most of the dead bodies, according to sources, were deposited at the 44 Army Reference Hospital because of the tight security there. "This is to prevent the public from knowing the dead toll and as you can see we are also here to search for our relatives that were said to have been brought here but we were barred from entering," a victim's relative said.

The heavy sound of the blast was heard in many parts of the city.

Not long after the blast, police and military personnel mobilised to the scene and cordoned off the area. The armed men restricted movement in and out the area for about three hours.

Violence nearly broke out when some youths of the Anguwan Yero area attempted to take laws into their hands by embarking on reprisal attack. But prompt intervention of the police, soldiers and other security personnel brought the situation under control.

However, a Reuters reporter said he saw two bodies on the roadside lying in pools of blood.

"We killed them and we'll do more," shouted a youth, with blood on his shirt, before police chased him and his cohorts away. Police set up roadblocks and patrols across town in an effort to prevent the violence spreading, Reuters reported.

A text message circulating that there was violence and reprisal attack in some parts of the state forced Kaduna State government to react and dispel the rumours.

Kaduna State governor's media aide, Reuben Buhari, warned that anyone caught spreading such rumours would face the full wrath of the law.

"We are calling on our people to go about their usual businesses. There is no any violence or reprisal attack anywhere in the state.

What happened is indeed unfortunate but the situation has been brought under control with prompt intervention of the police and military.

"We are urging our people to continue to cooperate with the state government for peace to continue to reign in the state. We should continue to pray against anyone or group that wants to disrupt our peaceful coexistence," Buhari said.

Meanwhile commuters in different areas of the Kaduna metropolis were yesterday stranded, following the church bombing.

The News Agency of Nigeria reported that many drivers of commercial vehicles scampered to bushes, parks and police stations, due to fear of reprisal attacks for the church attack.

Commuters were seen in their hundreds trekking from Sabo market to Television Garage, while others trekked from Television Garage to Stadium Roundabout. Besides, many people were seen trekking from Ahmadu Bello Way to Kawo and Kassuwa to Angwar-Rimi.

Some of the commuters, who were seen soliciting the assistance of private motorists for ride to their various destinations, narrated their ordeal.

Mrs Joy Onum, a resident of the Sabo neighbourhood, said that she and her three children trekked from NNPC Refinery Junction to Television Garage.

``My house at Gonigora is still faraway but we were coming from our church in Kamazoo; I pray we get home because the town is tense,'' she said.

Onum, however, said that no commercial driver would be blamed for staying off the road, as the people had to play safe because of the fear of reprisal attacks.

Another resident, Mr Bako Sunday, said that the explosion had appreciably heightened tension in the city.

"We are afraid of further violence by irate youths because we have yet to fully recover from the June bomb-blast reprisal attacks,'' he said.

Hundreds of residents have also taken refuge at the Joint (Military) Task Force's camp in Sabo, while others were seeking protection at Barnawa Police Station.

Daily Trust

[Folami David]

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