Until lately, there has been several but botched attempts by unknown groups to bomb Muslims worship centres within Kano municipal and its environs over the last two years.
But on each occasion, it was the security consciousness of the citizens that thwarted the crime. Suffice to say that, Kano was fully conscious of the danger that lurks before it finally manifested itself last Friday at the Central Mosque where thousands of worshippers converged weekly for the largest and compulsory congregational prayers of the week.
The Kano Central Mosque has 400 years of history. Centrally located, accessible from any part of the ancient city and largely patronised by hundreds of thousands of worshippers weekly, it served as a rally point for reunion with Muslim ummah scattered in the city.
The central position of the mosques put the security of worship place in the hands of citizens living around the 14th century edifice. Besides, Kano prides itself as Tumbin Giwa, literally the size of an elephant tummy that contained the good, the bad and the ugly. And this had demonstrated in the past that the city is capable and ready to match challenges and to ward off external threat.
This age-long belief among residents, perhaps, may be a driving force that fired the courage on citizens to confront, with bare hands, well-armed gunmen who attacked the mosques last Friday.
Although the bomb blast claimed hundreds of life with several others injured, however the spontaneous reaction by the people is believed to have significantly reduced the casualty figures.
Giving a graphic details of how youths mobilised against the attack, a member of the self-help group at the mosques who identified himself simply as Ahmad, explained that “when it became obvious that we were faced with death, we had no option than to demonstrate that the self-appointed agent of death was a liar”.
Explaining further, the 22-year-old man informed thus: “Some of us had at the back of our minds that we are living to die, and that death only comes at appointed time from Almighty, and we also recognised the benefit of saving lives when it mattered of most at the expense of your own life”.
He revealed that “there was a young man of my age that drove through the row of humans already set for prayers, and when eventually he fell into a ditch, he came out with a big gun, and within seconds the explosions came, wiping off innocent people.
“When we thought it was all over, we heard sporadic gunshots and we saw five strategically positioned gun men spraying bullets on fleeing worshippers. It was at this point some of us sacrificed their lives to save others. In spite of the danger, each one of them was identified, wrestled down and given jungle justice.”
Ahmad stated that “the revolt against the gunmen proved that they were human and would not want to die as some them begged for their lives during the moment of rage”.
Ahmad’s position was collaborated by a 10-year-old victim of the blast, Ibrahim Soron Dinki whose escaped the blast with minor burns on his face. Ibrahim explained that: “I saw the encounter between the people and the young driver of the Siena Bus car that overran the row of worshippers.”
According to him: “It was a short and brutal encounter with a man perhaps on a suicide mission. For those who surrounded the car and wanted to push it out of the ditch, little did they suspect the magnitude of the lurking danger before the bomb-laden vehicle exploded”.
Indeed while speaking with Vanguard Metro, VM, from his hospital bed, a highly traumatised Ibrahim could not explain what occurred thereafter as the intensity of the blast sent him into coma. It was the timely intervention of a rescue team that took him to the hospital that saved his life.
Interestingly, the leader of the Muslim Ummah, and Emir of Kano who cut short his lesser Hajj and returned to the country a day after has directed the cleansing of the mosque to pave way for the five times daily prayers.
Muhammad Sanusi II who described the incident as an act of God, further directed the Ummah to commence a three-day fasting and special prayers, beginning on Wednesday, to seek divine intervention.
But a visibly touched Governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, while at the site of the blast, pleaded with “aggrieved individuals, groups to come out for dialogue to resolve the differences.”
Kano, for now, is calm and quiet, but the citizens, more than ever before, are highly alert and conscious of the fact the security of the town lies in their hands.
by ROTMANLUV 2023-07-08, 17:34
