Jos residents shun church services

Christians preferred to stay indoors on Sunday in Jos, Plateau State, after a series of blasts claimed nearly 100 lives in less than one week.

Some of those who spoke with TheCable expressed fears that the terrorists might bomb churches today.

However, a few were still courageous enough to go to church and were subjected to tight security screening before they were allowed into the worship centres.

The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) on Sunday confirmed four deaths from Saturday night’s explosion at a football viewing centre. The suicide-bomber also died.

NEMA Principal Planning Officer, north-central zone, Mohammed Suleiman, said they had recovered three bodies on Saturday night but another was recovered on Sunday morning.

Alhaji Garba Ahmad, who lost his elder brother, Bello, in the blast, narrated the incident to the media.

He said: “The bomber had first attempted to enter the viewing centre, but was prevented by a barricade erected along the road, so he turned back  trying to enter through a garage. He also encountered a wall between the centre and the garage.

“In frustration, the bomber parked the car, a Honda Odyssey, in front of our house. When we saw the car, unusually parked in front of our house, my brother challenged the bomber, who told my brother that his car had a fault and that he wanted to repair it. My brother then asked him to take the car elsewhere to repair.

“Sensing something  unusual, I went inside and asked all the members of our family to leave the house. Just as my brother was persuading the man to leave the premises, he (the bomber) entered the car and immediately he started it, the bomb exploded, killing my brother, his son and his friend.”