Death At Dusk

Deeper Life Bible Church

Attack by Boko Haram insurgents on a church in Gombe State raises more questions on current security challenges

By Levinus Nwabughiogu, Gombe

The scene evoked both sorrow and sympathy. For many sympathisers who besieged the scene of the horrendous attack, the question was “God, where were you”? Many people are yet to come to terms with the import of the incident. Many were shocked that human beings could inflict such degree of pain on fellow beings.
Juaro, the wife of Johnson Juaro, the presiding pastor of the Deeper Life Bible Church, scene of the attack Nassarawa Quarters of Gombe State she was not so lucky as she was hacked down by the gunmen who invaded the church on Thursday, January 5, 2012 Mrs Juaro and other worshippers had come to seek the face of God. It was just four days into the New Year and the euphoria of the time seemingly dominated the minds of many Christians, many of who had gone at dusk to worship, but unknown to them; death was lurking around the Church.
While the service was on, gunmen invaded the church and fired into the worshippers resulting in the death of some of the faithfuls.
Pastor Juaro: “I lost my wife during the attack when they opened fire on us through the window of the church. They were in large numbers when they attacked us and I cannot ascertain their number, because we just began hearing gunshots inside the church and everybody ran for safety,” he said.
According to him, the assailants came in with sophisticated weapons and fired sporadically in the air to herald their arrival.
Twenty members of the church were seriously injured and were rushed to the State Specialist Hospital and the Federal Medical Centre, Gombe where they are recuperating.
A Youth Corp member serving with the church, Alade John Olanrewaju with registration number GM/11c/0977 who hails from Isanlu, Isin in Kwara State, was among the victims who died instantly in the church.
The Christian Association of Nigeria, (CAN) sources revealed that those brought in dead to the FMC, Gombe were five. They included Major Meshach M., Godwin Udoh, Saleh Buka, Chinedu Chime and Blessing Chime. Three other victims were deposited at the mortuary of the State Specialist Hospital.
One worshipper and eye witness, Amuchi Silas who lost her brother during the attack informed Journalists at the Gombe Specialist Hospital where she was still attending to her parents who also sustained injuries from bullet wounds that the incident was a shock to her.
According to her, “we were observing a Revival Service and a prayer session that was supposed to end by 8:00 pm when suddenly, I heard gunshots and saw people falling down on me amid sporadic gunshots, I laid down and tried to crawl to the culvert because I was sitting at the door”.
But the attack wasn’t without trace. As widely believed, it was perpetrated by the dreaded Islamic extremists, Boko Haram which had continued to visit mayhem on the across the North states. Their “Spokesman Abul Qaqa said last Friday that. “We are responsible for the attacks in Mubi and Gombe”.
The attack came barely a day after the expiration of the notice given to Christians by the sect to Christians resident in the North to quit the region and barely a week after the Federal Government imposed an emergency rule in some local governments areas in the four States of the North including Borno States which share boundaries with Gombe.
Reacting to government action, Qaqa said, “We find it pertinent to state that soldiers will only kill innocent Muslims in the local government areas where the state of emergency was declared. We would confront them squarely to protect our brothers,” he told journalists in a phone conference.
Speaking in Hausa, a language predominant in the North, Qaqa said “we also wish to call on our fellow Muslims to come back to the North because we have evidence that they would be attacked. We are also giving a three-day ultimatum to the Southerners living in the northern part of Nigeria to move away”.
But the state governor, Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo who visited the Church in the company of the Chairman of CAN, State Chapter, Abare Kalla and other government dignitaries the next day, expressed shock and outrightly condemned the attacks on Christians.
The Governor said the crime was alien to the state and directed security agents to unmask the perpetrators of the attack. While expressing sadness and condemnation over the incident, the Governor said the incident has challenged the government on certain security measures to ensure the continued peaceful co-existence that the state is known for. He promised free medical treatment for those still receiving treatment and assured that government would take care of the burial expenses of those who lost their lives in the attack.
Kalla who prayed for the State and Country during the visit said “the light we have been preaching would not stop because it is what we have been given while we are alive to eternity, no death, no threat, no demons, no gunshots would separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus”.
Already, the development has forced many Southerners especially to become apprehensive about their safety in the state. The development may have shattered the peace in Gombe State which has been relatively peaceful even inspite of serial bombings and loss of life in the North in recent times. Unlike other core Muslim States in the North, Gombe State enjoys some measure religious tolerance and respects the right to freedom of worship. Besides the southern part of the State which is densely populated by Christians, there are also pockets of Christian adherents in other local government areas.