John Hayab, chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in Kaduna, says the suspected suicide bomber who sneaked into a church in the state identified himself as Mohammed Sani.
On Sunday, the suspect sneaked into the Living Faith Church, better known as Winners Chapel, in Sabon Tasha area of Kaduna metropolis with an improvised explosive device (IED) reportedly concealed in his bag.
After his arrest by the police, he was identified as Nathaniel Samuel. But in an interview with PUNCH, the CAN chairman said the name the suspect gave the church during interrogation was different from the one given by the police.
“The church was in session when the young man came in, dropped his bag and exited as if he was going to the toilet, but didn’t come back in time. Some church members became suspicious,” the CAN chairman said.
“The church had put security measures in place such that they monitor everything going on in the church and they even have CCTV cameras.
“They discovered that what was in the bag looked like explosives, so they called the police. Let me state clearly that it was not the police that arrested him. It was the church that arrested him and then handed him over to the police.
“The police came to pick him up at the church. At the time he was interrogated at the church, he told the church that his name was Mohammed Sani, but when he was handed over to the police, the police told everyone that his name was Samuel Nathaniel.
“I don’t care what his name is. All I know is that a criminal wanted to blow up a church and kill people. The police should find out who his sponsors are and not play politics with names. Last week, a man was paraded by the police for faking his kidnap and identified as a pastor, only for us to find out he was never a pastor.”
