•Sa’idu Murtala
A resident of Filin Ball community in Jos North Local Government Area of Plateau state, Sa’idu Murtala, has explained how a Christian saved his life during an attack on Anguwan Rukuba community last Sunday.
It was earlier reported how gunmen broke into the community, shooting sporadically.
Governor Caleb Mutfwang had yesterday confirmed that 28 persons were killed in the incident, reports Daily Trust.
Narrating his ordeal, Murtala, a garden egg seller, said he was engaged with his customers, when the gunmen arrived in the area.
“I used to do business around the Rukuba community. I used to sell garden eggs. Around 7:30, I told my friend Hassan, who used to sell sugarcane that it was already 7:30 and asked him when we were supposed to go home. He suggested we stay until 9 pm. The moment I turned to where I displayed my garden eggs to attend to customers, I started hearing gunshots.
“Everybody was looking for somewhere to hide. All of a sudden, a Christian man quickly opened his house and hid me inside. I completely lost my senses, thinking I would be killed because the situation was terrifying as people around were angry.
“He hid me in his wife’s room and asked his wife to bring food for me. He did everything to calm my mind. I spent the night in his house, and the following day he called my father, who later came and picked me up after the situation was okay.
“He knows I am a Muslim because I used to do my business there everyday and leave for my area. He knows my faith.
“My phone, which I gave to one Monday for charging, was also returned after the situation was calm. All of them know I am a Muslim. I will never forget this man who saved my life,” he said.
The garden egg seller said what the Christian man did for him had served as a lesson that he would live to remember, believing that there are good people everywhere you find yourself.
“It was a lesson to me, and that all persons cannot be the same. In both Christianity and Islam, there are good and bad people. But if all people were like this man who saved my life, the world would be at peace. I don’t have anything to pay him back, but I believe Allah will reward him for what he did. Allah would definitely open his doors,” he said.
Murtala, however, said that his friend, Hassan who used to sell sugarcane is still missing as his phone number could not be reached.
Our correspondent reports that following the attack, the state government imposed curfew to douse tension.
Mutfwang has pleaded with residents to not take the laws into their hands, assuring that the government and other security forces were working closely to track down the perpetrators.
