JOS BOMBING: ‘I recognised my wife by her ring’

If 50-year-old Rosaline had not waited after the mass, perhaps she would have lived to tell the story.

But that few minutes she stayed after the service was when some suicide bombers chose to carry out the barbaric act that killed some worshipers and injured others.

Her husband, Mr. Sunday Pam, and a father of five, said that his wife waited behind to distribute invitation letters for a meeting slated for the next day.

Pam, who hails from Du in Jos South Local Government Area, recounted the ordeal he went through on March 11. he said he was in the church with whole members of his family when the blast went off.

He said, “We had just come out of the 8.30 mass, which all of us attended. Actually, I was not with my wife because I was behind the church holding a meeting with some members when we heard the blast. The ball of fire was the first thing we saw and then dust covered everywhere.

“I did not know the whereabouts of my wife and children. I immediately went to search for them. I saw my children, but they did not know where their mother was. I called her cell-phone, it rang but there was no response. I called it repeatedly, yet, nobody picked it. One of my friends was also looking for his wife and together we combed the whole church.

“After some minutes, I was told that my friend had seen his wife where she was lying dead and beside her was another corpse already covered. As I removed the cloth, behold it was that of my wife.

Pam said that he recognised his wife with the ring on her left hand.

He said, “I could not recognise her because the dust had covered her face and her body from the waist down was shattered by the blast.

 “I am sad that my wife of over 30 years could die like this, but I take solace in the fact that the remaining members of my family who were in church that day are alive to tell the story. To this, I give God the glory.

The Punch