Tension as killings continue in Kogi
• Two soldiers, gunman die in fresh attack
• Death toll from church invasion hits 20
• Governor imposes curfew
• Families to identify bodies before release
IN pains on their hospital beds, survivors of the gunmen invasion of the Deeper Life Church, Otite in Adavi Local Council of Kogi State, yesterday narrated their experiences.
One of the injured worshippers, who identified himself as Mr. Lawal Saliu, told reporters on his bed at the Lokoja Specialist Hospital that he only saw two gunmen enter the church in flowing gowns during their usual Bible Study at 11.00 p.m. and “before we could say anything, we heard several gunshots. I only woke up to find myself on this hospital bed, I don’t even know how I got here.
“What I remember last is that the generating set we were using suddenly went off and the next thing was that there were gunshots everywhere as the whole place was in darkness. Maybe they (gunmen) were more than that but I saw only two,” he said. “It was as really evil.” And after killing 18 worshippers evening at a Deeper Life Bible Church, suspected terrorists continued their siege on Okene. yesterday. They struck at a mosque and killed two soldiers. One of the gunmen was allegedly killed during the attack.
The armed men came in a Hilux pick-up van chanting Islamic songs before they attacked some Muslims who were holding tafsir (Ramadan lecture) at the Central Mosque in Okene.
The dead soldiers were on surveillance duty at area.
The state Commissioner of Police, Muhammed Katsina, who confirmed the incident and the death of two soldiers, said the military men killed one of the gunmen.
Already, Governor Idris Wada has declared a dusk to dawn curfew in Okene and its environs to forestall the escalation of the crisis.
The governor in a statewide broadcast, after cancelling his trip to Mecca for the lesser hajj, vowed to bring the perpetuators of these acts to book.
Wada said the decision to impose curfew in the area was taken after due consultation with the security agents, adding that commercial motorcyclists had been restricted 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. until the situation was brought under control.
Fear also gripped residents of Lokoja, the state capital over the detection of objects suspected to be bombs.
And with the death of two more persons yesterday from the Monday incident, the casualty level has risen to 20.
One of the survivors of the attack on his hospital bed yesterday narrated how the gunmen struck at the church.
He said two of the gunmen in flowing gowns entered the church during the Bible Study session and shot randomly at worshippers, who were on a night vigil. Among the dead was the pastor, Stephen Lambe, a lecturer at Kogi State Polytechnic, Osara campus. He died instantly.
Movement within Lokoja metropolis was disrupted yesterday following a bomb scare that rocked the city midday.
As the rumour spread at 10.00 a.m., government offices and business places were shut while others scaled down operations. Residents who were yet to get over the news of the attack in Okene remained indoors.
School pupils and their parents scampered for safety as stern looking security agents barricaded major roads in Lokoja while commercial transporters declined to ply the Lokoja-Okene route.
A bomb was allegedly detonated near a filling station in Lokongoma Phase Two area. The bomb discovered in the neighbourhood, later exploded while experts from the Kogi State Police Command attempted to contain it. No casualty was recorded.
The Liaison Officer, Adavi Local Council, Mouktar Atimah, told The Guardian in Okene that as at Monday night, the official casualty figure was 18 while 14 persons, who were injured rushed to the Specialist Hospital, Lokoja for treatment.
He, however, said the number had risen to 20 as two of the injured victims later died.
Atimah said his cousin was among the victims but assured residents and travellers of their safety as government and security agencies were on top of the situation.
Asked what had happened to the bodies of the victims, he said none of them had been buried as they had been deposited at Okengwen mortuary for identification by their families. “Once this is finalised, the bodies will be released for burial,” he said.
Kabiru Salawu, a resident bemoaned what he considered to be fast becoming a bad image identity for Ebiraland, saying terror was alien to the area.
Moddibo Usman, another resident disagreed with the authorities’ claim to be in control of the situation, saying “the time has come for government to go beyond post-mortem.
“We should stop deceiving ourselves that ‘we are on top of the situation.’ I am ashamed of the political class, which cannot call a spade a spade.”
The Medical Director of Dosean Hospital in Okene, Dr. Amuda Samuel, who gave some of the victims first aid treatment, said three of them had been discharged while a woman who was hit in the stomach was operated upon and transferred to the Federal Medical Centre, Lokoja.
The Okene Overseer of the Deeper Life Church, Pastor Roland Egunjobi, described the incident as the saddest moment of his life. He said most of the worshippers who were killed were children who came out for Bible study with their parents.
The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) Coordinator in Okene, Pastor Omotosho, told reporters that four members of the church had died in various hospitals where they were receiving treatment.
He appealed to both the federal and state governments to provide Christians with adequate security in worship places.
The Commander, Joint Military and Police Task Force (JTF), Lt-Col. Gabriel Olorunyomi, reportedly alerted Wada of the incident in the middle of a function at the Lugard House, Lokoja.
The governor, who broke the “very sad news” to the gathering, immediately left the hall, which also cut short the programme as guests also exited for fear of the unknown.
When asked by journalists to comment on the attack, Wada tearfully said: “15 people have just been killed in a church in Okene where they were worshipping God. The perpetrators of the heinous crime are wicked, devilish, ungodly and deserve no place in a sane society. But they will not get away with it this time. We will spare no resource at our disposal to fish out the perpetrators and smoke terrorism out of our state,” he said.
He continued: “I learned when they came, the first thing they did was to put out the light in the church before they opened fire at the defenceless, law-abiding citizens who were worshipping God. This is sad, it is worrisome.”
The governor, who remained in office till 4.00 a.m. co-ordinating the state security apparatuses, was said to have briefed President Goodluck Jonathan and the Inspector-General of Police (IG) on the invasion of the church.
Wada, who visited the church in Otite, reiterated his promise to fish out the terrorists, adding that the blood of those children they killed would be upon them.
The governor also visited the injured at the Okene General Hospital and pledged that the state government would foot their medical bills.
Reacting to the killings in Okene, Senate President David Mark asked Nigerians to take the routine check of their environment as important, noting that the communal living of Nigerians was being abused by the terror gang.
In a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Kola Ologondiyan, Mark said: “We can no longer take our communal lifestyle for granted. We should begin to ask questions when we find strange people and strange development around us.
“The dictum of being our brothers’ and sisters’ keeper has to be re-examined.”
The Igbo Youth Movement (IYM) said yesterday that the deliberate attack on Christian worshippers was designed to turn Nigeria to Sudan and charged the National Security Adviser (NSA) not to allow more deaths inside churches.
In a statement in Enugu, IYM President Elliot Uko, said the attacks were targeted at Ndigbo, stressing that it was at a loss as to why the Boko Haram had continued the insurgence, despite repeated warnings.
Reacting to the attack on the church at Okene, Uko added, “Anybody who is committed towards drawing Ndigbo into the fray might soon succeed, as there is a limit to endurance…”
• Death toll from church invasion hits 20
• Governor imposes curfew
• Families to identify bodies before release
IN pains on their hospital beds, survivors of the gunmen invasion of the Deeper Life Church, Otite in Adavi Local Council of Kogi State, yesterday narrated their experiences.
One of the injured worshippers, who identified himself as Mr. Lawal Saliu, told reporters on his bed at the Lokoja Specialist Hospital that he only saw two gunmen enter the church in flowing gowns during their usual Bible Study at 11.00 p.m. and “before we could say anything, we heard several gunshots. I only woke up to find myself on this hospital bed, I don’t even know how I got here.
“What I remember last is that the generating set we were using suddenly went off and the next thing was that there were gunshots everywhere as the whole place was in darkness. Maybe they (gunmen) were more than that but I saw only two,” he said. “It was as really evil.” And after killing 18 worshippers evening at a Deeper Life Bible Church, suspected terrorists continued their siege on Okene. yesterday. They struck at a mosque and killed two soldiers. One of the gunmen was allegedly killed during the attack.
The armed men came in a Hilux pick-up van chanting Islamic songs before they attacked some Muslims who were holding tafsir (Ramadan lecture) at the Central Mosque in Okene.
The dead soldiers were on surveillance duty at area.
The state Commissioner of Police, Muhammed Katsina, who confirmed the incident and the death of two soldiers, said the military men killed one of the gunmen.
Already, Governor Idris Wada has declared a dusk to dawn curfew in Okene and its environs to forestall the escalation of the crisis.
The governor in a statewide broadcast, after cancelling his trip to Mecca for the lesser hajj, vowed to bring the perpetuators of these acts to book.
Wada said the decision to impose curfew in the area was taken after due consultation with the security agents, adding that commercial motorcyclists had been restricted 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. until the situation was brought under control.
Fear also gripped residents of Lokoja, the state capital over the detection of objects suspected to be bombs.
And with the death of two more persons yesterday from the Monday incident, the casualty level has risen to 20.
One of the survivors of the attack on his hospital bed yesterday narrated how the gunmen struck at the church.
He said two of the gunmen in flowing gowns entered the church during the Bible Study session and shot randomly at worshippers, who were on a night vigil. Among the dead was the pastor, Stephen Lambe, a lecturer at Kogi State Polytechnic, Osara campus. He died instantly.
Movement within Lokoja metropolis was disrupted yesterday following a bomb scare that rocked the city midday.
As the rumour spread at 10.00 a.m., government offices and business places were shut while others scaled down operations. Residents who were yet to get over the news of the attack in Okene remained indoors.
School pupils and their parents scampered for safety as stern looking security agents barricaded major roads in Lokoja while commercial transporters declined to ply the Lokoja-Okene route.
A bomb was allegedly detonated near a filling station in Lokongoma Phase Two area. The bomb discovered in the neighbourhood, later exploded while experts from the Kogi State Police Command attempted to contain it. No casualty was recorded.
The Liaison Officer, Adavi Local Council, Mouktar Atimah, told The Guardian in Okene that as at Monday night, the official casualty figure was 18 while 14 persons, who were injured rushed to the Specialist Hospital, Lokoja for treatment.
He, however, said the number had risen to 20 as two of the injured victims later died.
Atimah said his cousin was among the victims but assured residents and travellers of their safety as government and security agencies were on top of the situation.
Asked what had happened to the bodies of the victims, he said none of them had been buried as they had been deposited at Okengwen mortuary for identification by their families. “Once this is finalised, the bodies will be released for burial,” he said.
Kabiru Salawu, a resident bemoaned what he considered to be fast becoming a bad image identity for Ebiraland, saying terror was alien to the area.
Moddibo Usman, another resident disagreed with the authorities’ claim to be in control of the situation, saying “the time has come for government to go beyond post-mortem.
“We should stop deceiving ourselves that ‘we are on top of the situation.’ I am ashamed of the political class, which cannot call a spade a spade.”
The Medical Director of Dosean Hospital in Okene, Dr. Amuda Samuel, who gave some of the victims first aid treatment, said three of them had been discharged while a woman who was hit in the stomach was operated upon and transferred to the Federal Medical Centre, Lokoja.
The Okene Overseer of the Deeper Life Church, Pastor Roland Egunjobi, described the incident as the saddest moment of his life. He said most of the worshippers who were killed were children who came out for Bible study with their parents.
The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) Coordinator in Okene, Pastor Omotosho, told reporters that four members of the church had died in various hospitals where they were receiving treatment.
He appealed to both the federal and state governments to provide Christians with adequate security in worship places.
The Commander, Joint Military and Police Task Force (JTF), Lt-Col. Gabriel Olorunyomi, reportedly alerted Wada of the incident in the middle of a function at the Lugard House, Lokoja.
The governor, who broke the “very sad news” to the gathering, immediately left the hall, which also cut short the programme as guests also exited for fear of the unknown.
When asked by journalists to comment on the attack, Wada tearfully said: “15 people have just been killed in a church in Okene where they were worshipping God. The perpetrators of the heinous crime are wicked, devilish, ungodly and deserve no place in a sane society. But they will not get away with it this time. We will spare no resource at our disposal to fish out the perpetrators and smoke terrorism out of our state,” he said.
He continued: “I learned when they came, the first thing they did was to put out the light in the church before they opened fire at the defenceless, law-abiding citizens who were worshipping God. This is sad, it is worrisome.”
The governor, who remained in office till 4.00 a.m. co-ordinating the state security apparatuses, was said to have briefed President Goodluck Jonathan and the Inspector-General of Police (IG) on the invasion of the church.
Wada, who visited the church in Otite, reiterated his promise to fish out the terrorists, adding that the blood of those children they killed would be upon them.
The governor also visited the injured at the Okene General Hospital and pledged that the state government would foot their medical bills.
Reacting to the killings in Okene, Senate President David Mark asked Nigerians to take the routine check of their environment as important, noting that the communal living of Nigerians was being abused by the terror gang.
In a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Kola Ologondiyan, Mark said: “We can no longer take our communal lifestyle for granted. We should begin to ask questions when we find strange people and strange development around us.
“The dictum of being our brothers’ and sisters’ keeper has to be re-examined.”
The Igbo Youth Movement (IYM) said yesterday that the deliberate attack on Christian worshippers was designed to turn Nigeria to Sudan and charged the National Security Adviser (NSA) not to allow more deaths inside churches.
In a statement in Enugu, IYM President Elliot Uko, said the attacks were targeted at Ndigbo, stressing that it was at a loss as to why the Boko Haram had continued the insurgence, despite repeated warnings.
Reacting to the attack on the church at Okene, Uko added, “Anybody who is committed towards drawing Ndigbo into the fray might soon succeed, as there is a limit to endurance…”
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