NEWS REATURE

 MFM: A church refused to be destroyed

By Taye Obateru

Thrice, attempts were made, thrice the bombs did not detonate... When an explosion was heard on Christmas Day in Jos, the Plateau State capital, and news thereafter that a bomb had exploded at a church, many people wailed and lamented over what they expected to be: loss of lives and injuries to many as is usually the case. Some concerned citizens, in fact, rushed to the scene to lend a hand in rescue operations, but this turned out to be unnecessary.

This was because apart from the policeman who was felled by bullets from the attackers, there were no corpses to evacuate or injured persons to be rushed to hospital as was the case at Madalla near Abuja where similar explosions occurred earlier the same day.
Rather than struggle to salvage mangled bodies or looking for ambulances to convey people to hospital, scores of security men and others who rushed to the Mountain of Fire and Miracles Church located along Jengre Road in Jos had little to do as the impact of the explosion was not as devastating as many had expected. 

Only one of the about three improvised explosive devices contrived by the attackers to blow up the church and her worshippers actually went off damaging the fence and about three vehicles parked close to it. The attackers themselves must have been disappointed that they failed to bring the church down again despite their seemingly well-planned strategy this time around. 

Investigations revealed that last Sunday’s was about the third failed attempt to bomb the church but either by divine intervention or luck, those who have targeted the church have not succeeded. The first attempt was on March 20, this year when a man tried to plant a bomb among cars parked at the church but was sighted by the church’s vigilant security men. 

The man who went to the church on a motorcycle was said to have been noticed moving round the parked cars with a polythene bag but fled when he was challenged by a guard dropping the bag which was later found to contain an improvised explosive device. 

Men from the anti-bomb squad of the police had to be called in to evacuate the device. Church members said more attempts have been made but that on every occasion, the plans failed. The belief among many is that the failed attempts are evidence of the 'spiritual cover’ the church enjoys while to some others, it is mere luck. 

Unlike other cases of bombings where the explosives are planted to detonate at a specified time, Sunday’s operation was different as the attackers said to have divided themselves into three groups, stormed the church like a strike force. Armed with sophisticated weapons like AK-47 rifles, they were ready to engage the security personnel stationed at the church in a shootout. 

According to eyewitnesses, they were out to do maximum damage emerging from different directions with some targeting the policemen on guard while others were detailed to haul the explosive devices over the fence into the church. 

While they succeeded in killing a policeman, their attempt to haul the explosive device into the church failed as it landed just by the fence where it exploded causing minimal damage as there were no people around the spot. The fact that the church service had ended and most of the worshipers dispersed was also said to have saved the situation given the manner the attack was planned. 

An eyewitness who simply identified himself as Gabriel described the situation to Saturday Vanguard: “They were prepared to kill as many people as possible. After dropping the bomb, some of them started firing into the church premises to drive out worshipers while some others were positioned to gun down those who run out of the church.
It would have been devastating, but for God’s intervention. I now believe that God is really with this church.” Gabriel who is not a member of the church said he was just passing by when he heard the explosion and had to hide in a place from where he viewed the happenings. 

He said the attackers numbered about 12 with some emerging from the creek near the church while some came from behind a mechanic shed in front of the church. 

A church member who did not want to be named spoke gleefully about the “divine protection” the church enjoys. “Is it not obvious that God’s hand is with us? This church has been a target of those terrorists for some time now, but God has always frustrated their plans to destroy it. 

This confirms our absolute dependence on God and in His ability to protect us from danger. What happened on Sunday was another manifestation of the grace this church is enjoying and we are grateful to God”, he said.
According to him, the development has not scared worshipers from church as some would have expected. He said church activities were recording normal attendance except for those who travelled out of the state for the Christmas celebration. 

“We are a church under God’s cover and if the church is a mountain of miracle and fire, do you expect anything less? The bible assures us that the gate of hell shall not prevail against the church and we hold firmly to this, so we are not afraid”, he boasted.
However, criticisms of what some see as the church’s “over dependence” on prayer has emerged as it has been accused of not paying enough attention to necessary security measures like other churches. Briefing journalists on the day of the blast, spokesman of the Special Task Force (STF) maintaining security in the state, Captain Charles Ekeocha accused the church of not attending security meetings convened to strategize for peaceful festivities. 

Another top security officer in the state was said to have spoken angrily to the church officials on their “prayer, prayer, prayer” attitude to the neglect of important security measures at a meeting with them after the blast.
Saturday Vanguard made spirited attempts to speak to the Regional Overseer of the church on this, but he declined, saying he did not want to join issues with anybody on the matter. However, a source within the church said contrary to the allegation, the church had not toyed with the issue of security. 

He disclosed that it was the church that wrote to security agencies early December to alert them on plans to attack the church and wondered why they would be accused of being insensitive to the issue of security.
“We have been cooperating and we’ll continue to cooperate with security agencies on the issue of security because it is in the interest of our church and members. We do not toy with the issue of security; it’s unfortunate that what happened did happen, but we thank God that the damage was minimal”, the source said. 

As the New Year celebration approaches, security agencies again reviewed their strategies to ensure that no negative incident is recorded in the state. The Commissioner of Police, Mr. Dipo Ayeni who held a meeting with officials of the commercial motorcyclists association on Wednesday said but for the incident at the Mountain of Fire and Miracles Church, the strategies deployed for the Christmas celebrations worked substantially. 

He said additional measures were being explored to frustrate any security threat and solicited the support of the people to achieve this. 

As was the case during the Christmas celebrations, operations of commercial motorcycles are to be suspended today and tomorrow (31st and 1st) to forestall their being used for any negative purpose. Many residents had hailed the ban on their operations during Christmas and attributed the largely peaceful celebration to this development. Many expressed the hope that the New Year festivity would be devoid of bomb blast or any other negative happening that could worsen the security situation in the state. They can only hope and pray.