Sad tales from Suleja bomb blast: ‘I thought my wife only sustained injuries …but she died’

Late Theresa, a mother of five, had her Sunday service in the morning before coming back with her husband to the church for Mission Support Team meeting (MST). The husband, Mr Christopher Ogbuga, was busy trying to open the doors of the venue of the meeting but as fate would have it, the padlocks refused […]

Late Theresa, a mother of five, had her Sunday service in the morning before coming back with her husband to the church for Mission Support Team meeting (MST). The husband, Mr Christopher Ogbuga, was busy trying to open the doors of the venue of the meeting but as fate would have it, the padlocks refused to open, hence he went inside the yard housing the venue  to open the doors from inside.

That was how Mr Ogbuga narrowly escaped the long arms of death, because he could have been killed same time with his wife along the 20 meter- wide corridor, where his wife was trapped and killed by the bomb blast.

His word, “I only escaped the bomb blast by whiskers. We could have been killed together because it was only a few minutes interval between the time that I went into the yard to open the door of the venue of the meeting and the explosion that killed my wife”.

Narrating how the incident occurred, the bereaved husband said when he heard the thunder-like sound, he was terrified but  could not know what it was.He said at the time he came out, he only saw the lifeless body of his wife laying in the pool of her blood with some parts of her body shattered,

He shouted for help and in a short while, good Samaritans gathered to assist him but before any help could be rendered, security personnel arrived the scene of the unfortunate incident and took over the custody of the corpse which was later deposited at the morgue of the General Hospital, Suleja.

Ogbuga continued, “I went to my wife straight at the time she was laying on the ground in a pool of her blood, thinking that she had only sustained some injuries but on lifting her up, it occurred to me I was only holding her lifeless body”.

He lamented it was a meeting that never held as the entire place was thrown into pandemonium, although, apart from the two persons reported to have died on the spot,another man who had his two legs chopped off and later died in the hospital and two others who survived the blast with serious injuries, there are no other casualities. However, there was no much damage on  the church building and the houses within the vicinity of the scene of the tragedy.

Mr Ogbuga who has been in Suleja for the past 17 years, said “this blood that you are seeing was the blood of my wife, where the pieces of her body were gathered by the Search and Rescue Mission team  from Abuja”.

According to Sani Yusuf whose house is opposite the Church he told Sunday Trust that the sad incident occurred between 2 and 3 pm, while he was inside his compound which made him jittery.

Yusuf said he came out trembling and saw Mrs Ogbuga laying dead on the ground with some of her body parts cattered around her. He added that the explosive device that killed her must have been thrown from a refuse dump located near the church close to the place where the deceased was standing, because it did not look like it was planted at the place.

His word, “the deceased was pierced by the explosive device and it looked like the way her body was battered,it was as if the device was thrown directly at her. It was really a horrible sight”.

He added that the body parts of late Theresa, including her intestines had to be  gathered by some officials, saying the Federal Road Safety Commission officials were the first set of team to arrive the scene..

Yusuf further revealed that the second victim, a woman, Fostola  Ogubike, 35 years old was also killed in the tragedy. He said she was knocked down by the bomb blast and died instantly, while the other victim who was identified as John Edward, 25 years old had his legs shattered.

He said the blast only went off once and when  he came out people were being driven away from the scene for the fear of more explosions , telling them nobody should come close until anti-bomb squad had combed the place.

Also speaking during the visit of the Niger State delegation lead by  Governor Mu’azu Babagida Aliyu, the leader of the Church, Reverend Joseph Olusugba, said the blast occured after close of Sunday service, when virtually all the members had left with the exception of some few who remained behind for one meeting or the other.

He said the window of his office was shattered by the blast that occured shortly after the Church executive council meeting, adding that the windows of the children’s section were also affected,

The Reverend also told the Deputy Governor that the filthy refuse dump with offensive odour had been a source of serious security challenge to the church for the past 15 years, noting that the heap of refuse  standing above the height of the church had inlets from left and right sides of the church which made the area porous and unsecure.

Niger State Governor, Dr. Mu’azu Babngida Aliyu, who was represented by his deputy, Alhaji Ahmed Musa, condoled the bereaved families of the victims of last Sunday’s bomb blast and described the tragedy as unfortunate, saying it is now clear that the security challenge was everybody’s business, therefore no one should be left out in complementig  government’s efforts to adress it.

According to the governor, “All hands must be on deck to ensure that everybody braces up to the security challenges facing the state”.

Dr Aliyu directed the Chairman of Suleja Local Government council to immediately evacuate the filthy refuse dump site located very close to the church through which the perpetrators were believed to have carried out the dastardly act by dropping the explosive device there.

He added that government was ever ready to join hands with all stakeholders to  ensure the provision of adequate security to lives and property, noting that heinous crimes like this magnitude had became a serious security challenge facing the whole world.

The governor also assured the citizens of the state that government will brace up despite its enormous responsibilities to chart ways of ensuring people’s safety, saying a meeting of all security chiefs in the state would be summoned on how to confront the disturbing situation.