A garden egg trader in Jos North LGA, Sa’idu Murtala, has shared how a Christian man saved his life during the recent attack on Angwan Rukuba community in Plateau State.
Reports state that at least 28 people were killed on Sunday when gunmen opened fire at a popular bar in the area, triggering panic as residents fled amid continuous gunshots.
According to Daily Trust, Murtala said he was attending to customers around 7:30pm when the attack began.
The Muslim trader explained that the Christian man quickly sheltered him in his home, hiding him in his wife’s room and ensuring his safety throughout the night.
“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 late and asked when we were supposed to go home. He suggested we stay until 9pm,” he said.
“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.
“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.”
Murtala said the experience strengthened his belief in peaceful coexistence between people of different religions, noting that not everyone should be judged the same.
“He knows I am a Muslim because I used to do my business there every day. I will never forget this man who saved my life,” he added.
“It was a lesson to me that not all persons are the same. In both Christianity and Islam, there are good and bad people. If all people were like this man who saved my life, the world would be at peace.”
He also revealed that his friend, Hassan, who sold sugarcane in the area, remains missing, as efforts to reach him have been unsuccessful.
Following the incident, the Plateau State government imposed a 48-hour curfew in Jos North to ease tensions, while Governor Caleb Mutfwang urged residents to remain calm and allow security agencies to handle the situation.
The incident mirrors a similar act of bravery in June 2018, when Abdullahi Abubakar, a Muslim cleric, sheltered over 300 Christians in his mosque during attacks in Barkin Ladi.
His action earned him national and international recognition, including a nomination for the Member of the Order of the Niger (MON) and the United States International Religious Freedom Award.