A resident of Filin Ball in Jos North, Plateau state, Sa’idu Murtala, has shared how a Christian neighbour saved him during the last deadly attack on the Anguwan Rukuba community.
The Muslim survivor recalls how a Christian non-indigene hid him during the attack.
Murtala, a garden egg seller, describing what happened as reported by Daily Trust, he was attending to his customers when gunshots rang out.
According to him, “Around 7:30, I told my friend Hassan, who used to sell sugarcane, that it was already 7:30pm 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 gunshots.
“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 killed 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 every day 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,” Murtala said.
Reflecting on the experience, he said it taught him a powerful lesson about humanity: “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 furthered that his friend, Hassan, the sugarcane seller, is still missing, and his phone is unreachable.
