Tragedy was averted at the St. Louis Catholic Church, Bompai, Kano city, Kano State, after a blaze was ignited inside the Church building, but was eventually contained by some church workers.
Hundreds of worshipers, who attended Sunday Mass at the Church, situated at heart of the state capital, were stunned at the story of the inferno, which occurred at about 3:00pm, on Thursday afternoon.
Briefing his congregation of the shocking incident, the Parish Priest of the Church, Reverend Father Alex Shukau, explained that some unknown arsonists had sneaked into the Church building, while taking advantage of its quiet scenery during the weekdays to set the sheet of the alter on fire.
He disclosed that the fire had begun to burn when a female Church member, who at about the same time, was entering the Church, noticed the billowing smoke.
Narating the incident, Fr. Shukau said, “It was the woman who raised the alarm that invited the rest of the people within the premises to put off the fire and prevent it from further spread.” he explained.
The visibly disturbed Priest acknowledged that the Church was at a loss as to the motives of those behind the unholy act, describing it as an act of terror, which probably was intended to desecrate the altar of the Lord.
He was, however, relieved that the arsonists did not succeed in their wicked act, insisting that the desecration of the altar was a very weighty issue in the Catholic Church.
A member of the Church, while thanking God for protecting His Church from evildoers, recalled how a few years ago, the Blessed Sacrament kept inside the Church was stolen by some unknown persons.
The member, who did not want his name in prints, tasked the Church management to strengthen the number of security officers assigned to guard the Church premises during week days, given that there is huge population of non–Christians and Christians of other denominations in the community where the Church is located.
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