{"id":22906,"date":"2011-12-28T14:06:45","date_gmt":"2011-12-28T14:06:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/2011\/12\/victims-describe-horror-of-madalla-church-attack\/"},"modified":"2011-12-28T14:06:45","modified_gmt":"2011-12-28T14:06:45","slug":"victims-describe-horror-of-madalla-church-attack","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/12\/28\/victims-describe-horror-of-madalla-church-attack\/","title":{"rendered":"Victims describe horror of Madalla church attack"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

ABUJA (AFP) \u2013 The bomb exploded as Esther Ibu walked out of the church, her five-month-old son in her arms, the power of the blast throwing her and the boy to the ground and leaving death all around her.<\/p>\n

\u201cBefore I knew it, I started seeing dead bodies, people burning into ashes,\u201d the woman in her 30s said, sobbing as she sat in a wheelchair at a hospital in the capital holding her son and waiting to be x-rayed, her right leg bandaged.<\/p>\n

Nigeria was hit by a wave of attacks on Christmas blamed on Islamist group Boko Haram that left at least 40 people dead, but it was the horrific bombing at a church near Abuja that has especially sent reverberations across the country.<\/p>\n

Fears have been raised over the potential for fresh sectarian clashes in Africa\u2019s most populous nation and largest oil producer, roughly divided between a mainly Muslim north and predominately Christian south.<\/p>\n

Nigeria\u2019s leaders have since been seeking to calm tensions, urging Christians not to retaliate, but authorities\u2019 seeming inability to stop Boko Haram despite heavy-handed military crackdowns has led to deep frustration.<\/p>\n

An attack on Tuesday night raised further fears, with a bomb tossed into an Arabic and Koranic school in southern Nigeria\u2019s Delta state, wounding seven people, most of them children between five and eight years old.<\/p>\n

The attack at St. Theresa Catholic Church in Madalla outside Abuja occurred as Christmas morning services were ending. It left a gruesome scene, with body parts littering the ground and some of the wounded rushing toward a priest for last rites.<\/p>\n

At least 35 were killed there and another 52 wounded, emergency officials have said.<\/p>\n

Chukwueke Ajuwe, 30, saw his head, legs and one of his hands badly burnt in the explosion.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter the service, I came out and was facing the church and suddenly I heard a deafening sound,\u201d he said while lying on a bed in the hospital\u2019s emergency unit, unbandaged despite obvious burns to his body.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was standing, but somehow I found myself under a burning car. My legs were burning. I tried to move away from there. I couldn\u2019t and I was just shouting, \u2018Jesus! Jesus!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

He said he was eventually able to move his right leg.<\/p>\n

\u201cI supported it with the other left hand and my shoe pulled off,\u201d said Ajuwe. \u201cI then ran away.\u201d<\/p>\n

Esther Ibu said she had left the church and was waiting outside for her father to pick her up.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe heard a very loud sound. I found myself on the ground and my son was out of my hand,\u201d she said, pausing as she sobbed.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was by the grace of God that I stood up, and I was like somebody that is drunk, and I was looking for my son Isaac.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said she managed to find him nearby shortly afterward. He was somehow not seriously wounded.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was crying seriously,\u201d she said. \u201cI picked him up and started running looking for my people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eventually she made it home, where she found her daughter, and then to the hospital. She was later brought to the national hospital in Abuja.<\/p>\n

A reporter wheeled her to the x-ray room due to a shortage of staff at the hospital blamed on the Christmas holidays.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Comments are moderated. Please keep them clean and brief.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

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\nVictims describe horror of Madalla church attack<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ABUJA (AFP) \u2013 The bomb exploded as Esther Ibu walked out of the church, her five-month-old son in her arms, the power of the blast throwing her and the boy to the ground and leaving death all around her. \u201cBefore I knew it, I started seeing dead bodies, people burning into ashes,\u201d the woman in her 30s said, sobbing as she sat in a wheelchair at a hospital in the capital holding her son and waiting to be x-rayed, her right leg bandaged. Nigeria was hit by a wave of attacks on Christmas blamed on Islamist group Boko Haram that left at least 40 people dead, but it was the horrific bombing at a church near Abuja that has especially sent reverberations across the country. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22906","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard"],"yoast_head":"\nVictims describe horror of Madalla church attack - Ghanamma.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/12\/28\/victims-describe-horror-of-madalla-church-attack\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Victims describe horror of Madalla church attack - Ghanamma.com\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"ABUJA (AFP) \u2013 The bomb exploded as Esther Ibu walked out of the church, her five-month-old son in her arms, the power of the blast throwing her and the boy to the ground and leaving death all around her. \u201cBefore I knew it, I started seeing dead bodies, people burning into ashes,\u201d the woman in her 30s said, sobbing as she sat in a wheelchair at a hospital in the capital holding her son and waiting to be x-rayed, her right leg bandaged. 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