- from Jide Orintunsin & Yusuf Alli -
Seven hospitalised victims of the Christmas Day bombing by Boko Haram have gone blind, the parish priest said yesterday.
The deadly sect bombed St. Theresa’s Catholic Church in Madalla, Niger State on Christmas Day last year during an early morning mass.
Forty-four people died in the blast; 83 were injured.
The suspected mastermind of the blast, Kabiru Sokoto, is in security custody. His suspected accomplice, Habibu Bama, has been declared wanted.
Rev. Father Isaac Achi spoke yesterday while receiving Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, who led a team of the apex bank to donate N25million to the church, victims and members of the community affected by the blast.
The priest said: “Of the 127 victims, we lost 44, out of the injured seven lost their sight, four are still at Gwagwalada Specialist, eight at National Hospital, Abuja. Others have been referred to Kano, Zaria, Lagos and Enugu hospitals.”
In a related development, detained Boko Haram spokesman Abu Qaqa has told his interrogators how vehicles used for suicide bombings were sourced. The government has asked all security agencies to be on the alert following intelligence report that the military wing of the sect may renew hostilities.
According to a source, Qaqa opened up again yesterday during another round of interrogation on the activities of the sect.
The source said the suspect provided clues on the type of vehicles used for suicide missions. The source quoted Qaqa as saying: “We used to snatch those vehicles at gun point. We use the less exotic ones for suicide bombings and just load vehicles with bombs, drive them near our target, park, get out and leave them to explode thereafter.
“The leader takes the expensive (exotic) ones always, saying that he would arrange for them to be sold and the proceeds put into the jihad. This is never done, anyway. Most of those vehicles end up with him and the Kanuri members of our sect. They use them; pose in them to deceive security agents at checkpoints.
“The distribution (utilisation) of these stolen vehicles on ‘man-know-man’, ‘man-know-tribesman’ became another source of anger and acrimony but you have to bear it or you die. Once you are in, you are in. If you attempt to leave, you are seen as a traitor, who must die.”
Another source said: The sect was worried that its intellectual and political wing has been dismantled by security agencies.
“Out of anger, the military wing has decided to renew hostilities. That is why all security agencies have been placed on the alert nationwide to ward off any aggression,” a source said, adding: “The security beef up is not restricted to only states where we have partial emergency declaration. It is going to be a nationwide thing.”
Our security is trying, but we expect more and total succeesss.