A Muslim trader, Sa’idu Murtala, has recounted how a Christian resident saved his life during a violent attack in Anguwan Rukuba area of Jos on Sunday, March 29.
The Palm Sunday incident, reportedly carried out by gunmen, left over 40 people d+ad and threw the community into panic. Murtala, a garden egg seller in the area, said he was attending to customers when the violence suddenly erupted.
Speaking with Daily Trust, he narrated:
“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 g¥nshots”.
He described the chaos that followed as people scrambled for safety, unsure of where to run.
“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 k+lled 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.
Murtala added that his friend Hassan remains missing following the incident, as attempts to reach him have been unsuccessful.
Reflecting on the experience, he emphasized the lesson it taught him about humanity beyond religious differences.
“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