Tragedy averted as soldiers evacuate suspected bomb from church premises in Abia

UMUAHIA— No fewer than 100 persons would have lost their lives following the discovery of an object suspected to be a bomb at the United Evangelical Church, Ehere/Umuola, Ogbor Hill, Aba, Abia State.

Eyewitnesses told Vanguard that the church members were digging in the fence area around the parsonage for a new one when they unearthed a large metal object.

One of them was said to have taken the strange object to the nearby water borehole when the priest in charge suddenly suspected it to be a bomb and warned them to stay away from it.

A source further told Vanguard that the priest in charge went to a military unit in the city, which led soldiers to storm the parsonage to evacuate the deadly object.

An eyewitness said: “The road, which divides the church building and the parsonage is being expanded by the state government. The church decided to remove the old fence and build a new one to make way for the expansion of the road. It was while the church members were digging the ground for the new fence that they dug out the metal object which nobody knew was a bomb. The pastor later invited soldiers who evacuated the object.”

Sympathisers, who were gathered at the scene, expressed gratitude to God for the unexploded object, adding that no fewer than 100 persons and church building would have been destroyed as the area was always filled with traders and passersby.

Contacted, Secretary of the Aba Area Conference of the United Evangelical Church, UEC, Rev. Thompson Ikpeoha, who confirmed the incident, said he was yet to be fully briefed by the priest in charge of the Ehere/Umuola Church.

Efforts to contacts the Army Public Relations Officer,14 Brigade, Ohafia, was unsuccessful, at press time.

However, a senior military officer in Aba confirmed the incident and disclosed that the Army headquarters had taken over the investigation.

Culled from vanguard