Reports from Jaji are revealing some amazing tales.For instance,sources close to his family said the Director of Air, Armed Forces Command and Staff College ,Air Commodore Alechenu Ekagbo was still in Coma Monday morning at the 44 Army Reference Hospital, Kaduna, where he has been receiving treatment from injuries sustained during Sunday bomb attack.This report came about 24 hours after the suicide bomb blasts that targeted a church at the military barracks in Jaji.
Air Commodore Ekagbo was reported to be in his room at the Brigadier Quarters when his residence located about 15 metres from the church was hit by the bomb .
After the blast, family members said yesterday, “we thought he was dead until we got the news this morning (Monday) that he is still alive but in critical condition.”
On Sunday, a suicide bomber riding in a bus crashed into Saint Andrew’s Protestant Church within AFCSC barracks ; another explosion also hit the church from a second vehicle, a Toyota Camry. Insiders said about 50 persons were killed and scores were injured .Army officials said only 11 persons were killed while 30 others were injured.
In yet another amazing development , journalists were locked up in the institution’s conference room, along with some other government officials during the visit by Kaduna State Governor, Patrick Ibrahim Yakowa to Jaji. Only Governor Yakowa and his security personnel were allowed access to the bombed church.
Air Vice Marshal Ibrahim Kure ,the AFCSC Commandant conducted Yakowa round the scene of the blasts .Yakowa while briefing journalists after the inspection described the incident as most unfortunate ,adding that it is a challenge to the nation.
Said Yakowa, “the bombing of a church within a premier institution like the AFCSC is a wake-up call to all security agencies within the country to continue to sit down so as to fashion out a solution on how to curb the incidents of bombing or terrorism and all stakeholders have to now come together to find a solution to frequent bombing or killing of innocent people in Nigeria.”
Meanwhile, the ACF National Publicity Secretary, Anthony Sani, has urged the Federal Government and leaders of the insurgent Muslim sect, Boko Haram, to enter a truce in order to save the nation from human calamity.
Sani asked , “how could they (suicide bombers) have broken into the fortress of the military command? Could it be that our intelligence community is not living up to expectation; though some people have been saying that our intelligence is not up to standard? It is a failure of our military intelligence.
In his words Sani said, “The suicide bombing of a church in Jaji military formation, which caused the death of some people is yet another dastardly act that is condemnable by all people of goodwill, precisely because they go against the core values of humanity enjoined by God.”
“All those who take delight in taking the lives of innocent people as their own way of addressing their concerns should know that they are chasing shadows and this is why they should lay down their arms and embrace dialogue as the only viable option to addressing their concerns.”
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Jaji Update :More than 50 Feared Killed In Military Barracks Church Bomb Blasts