From Sylvanus Viashima, Jalingo
Following a Sunday night’s bomb blast at the Chaplaincy of Saint John’s College, Mutum-Biyu in Gassol Local Government, Taraba State, a fresh wind of fear has gripped residents of the state.
The explosion came barely 24 hours after suspected terrorists, dressed in uniforms killed at least three persons in Wuro Bokki village, to reinforce a sequence of terrifying occurrences rocking the state.
While offering an account of the tragic incident on the place of worship, the principal of the college, Emmanuel Vershima Ikyaan, said by some divine intervention, the blast did not harm anybody: “The youths and some students had conducted a programme in the chapel, which also doubled as the school’s hall and had left the premises a few minutes before the explosion.”
He, however, regretted that a substantial portion of the Church’s building was destroyed. Some 10 minutes after the blast, the suspected terror gang, probably receding from their devilish operation, began to fire random gunshots in the town. The shots strengthened the fear that has held the town hostage as the villagers scampered in different paths to escape.
Musa Abdulahi, chairman, Gassol LG in a telephone interview, disclosed that the terrorists returned to their base in the forest between
Sendede and Gassol wards of the local government.
State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Abdullahi Usman, countered the impression the blast was a terror attack: “What happened was that some kidnappers came to kidnap the owner of one filling station in the town.
“Unfortunately for them, they could not achieve their mission. In the process of fleeing the town, they started shooting sporadically in a bid to scare off any possible chase and pave way for their safe escape.
“It was in this process that they threw an explosive device into the Church to cause fear, to enable them escape.” He restated that though the explosion damaged the affected building, it did not hurt anybody.
Albert Ulegha told Daily Sun that the police were economical with the truth about the bomb blast. He felt that the state was already being terrorised:
“I have been in Taraba State long enough to understand that things are no longer the same. The earlier we realised and address the present challenge, the better for us.
“The major challenges we had in the past were largely attacks on communities by herders and communal clashes. Later, we started having the problem of kidnapping for ransom. What we are seeing today is very strange and I must say that I am scared.”
Investigation indicates a growing feeling of fear among the populace.
The residents are uncertain about their security. Those views were sought felt the state was gradually going down to a phase of terrifying criminality.
Not long ago, even Governor Darius Ishaku admitted that terrorists from neighbouring states, fleeing from military onslaughts, were regrouping in the state. He added that they were making camps in various locations.
A resident, Yahaya Yakubu, said:
“If I tell you that I am not very afraid, I am lying to you. Yes, we have had serious security challenges in the state, but most of these have been internal.
“I say internal in the sense that it is mostly communal clashes like what we have between the Tiv and Jukun, Jukun and Kuteb, Mambila and Fulani among others or the attacks on communities by the killer herdsmen.
“We have also had to contend with issues of kidnapping and armed robbery, but these are local issues basically. However, you would notice in recent times that there is a shift in the nature of security challenges confronting the state.
“For instance, it is very strange to have such well organized and armed criminal gang that would ambush and kill scores of the local vigilantes who are very familiar with the terrain and have persistently proven very effective in pushing these gangs out.
“Apart from the killer herdsmen, it is now that we are having armed groups attacking communities in broad daylight and killing people with impunity without any reasonable provocation.
“Just over the weekend, we woke up to the news of the attack on a village in Gassol. These hoodlums stormed the village and killed several persons and left thousands homeless.
“Now we are talking about a bomb blast in a Church. If this is not addressed urgently, we may be heading towards a worse situation than what we have in Borno, Katsina, Zamfara, Niger and other states.”
Monica Awuro survived a recent attack on Wuro Bokki. She said she was in the village to prepare a piece of land for the coming farmin season but was uncertain if she would return to the farm.