Share invasion by Tapas: Our church (UMCA) lost everything built by Missionaries 100 years ago
looted; Telecommunication installation destroyed,
domestic animals killed, while Mosques and churches, especially UMCA Church
Share were not left out in the mayhem that have reduced the indigene of the
town to beggars and displaced people in their own place of birth.
What is your
name and your position in the Church?
My name is Reverend Samuel Babatunde Kolapo, the
name of our Church is United Missionary Church of Africa, I am the sole
Administration of the Church in
Shaare and her
environs. I am a teacher at Community Primary School, Shaare.
How did it
happen and where were you when the mayhem started?
We never knew this is what we would get by
trying to safe guard the lives of our children from kidnappers and rapist.
Sometime ago, we saw some men on motor-cycle, they were many, they rode through
our school into a nearby bush on a top speed. One of them almost hit one of our
pupils. Upon our inquiry, we discovered that there was a place very close to
the school, where these men went to smoke marijuana. For the safety of our
pupils, the management took a decision that the bush where the hoodlums have
taken as their hideout should be
cleared. Upon the decision, the clearing commenced on
the 26th October 2015 and it was on a gradual process.
On Saturday
19th December, I was at a function; a wedding when it was announced
in the church that nobody should leave the church premises because there was
mayhem in the town. We were disturbed because we left people behind at home. I
had to call a close Pastor, and we both sneaked out to see what was wrong.
We took a bush path to the Mission house where I
reside and on getting there I discovered I couldn’t even near my home. There
were gun shots from Tsaragi side. I had to ask people around what could have
caused such mayhem and I was told that
Nupe (Tapas) people
of Tsaragi town engaged Shaare people over the cutting of Cassia tree and clearing
of the bush around Community Primary school where I teach. Meanwhile, the
school is directly adjacent the Mission House of our church where I reside.
This particular bush they were clearing is within Shaare community. Despite the
fact that we share boundary with The Tsaragi people, it’s about 500 metres to
their town where they came to invade us with guns and other weapons.
Gun were shot at us, it was by share luck that I
didn’t get hit that day, because the shots were incessant. We had to flee, we
tried to take some of our things but there was no way we could even move close
to the house. We were stampeded with gun shots. On
that note, we
had to run for our dear lives. They came close to the house, burgled our
apartment and made away with our properties. They looted all what we had and
set the building on fire.
Did you
consider any religious intonation to this?
Well, what I could
say here is that there was a Boko Haram influence on the whole thing. Tsaragi
king and his people could have involved Boko haram to perpetrate this evil act,
because it was share arson, terrorism and a serious invasion by them on our Mosque
and Church. They destroyed everything in the Mosque and church including all I
have laboured for all my life.
I am left
with nothing, but God! The only cloth I could called mine was what I put on; on
that Saturday. What you are seeing on me today was given to me by a friend. We
have lost everything including my vehicle. Someone that came for counselling
was caught in the mayhem; his car was burnt into ashes and so many others that
were around the church for one thing or the other.
Did the
Church ever have any issue with the Nupes before the incident?
The church never had any issue with anybody. We
have been here for over hundred years. A church or any other place of worship
is supposed to be a haven to people during conflicts, war or whatever, but what
have we got here at UMCA, Shaare, the Tapas of
Tsaragi
descended on our properties and burnt everything to ashes. The Church, the
mission house, our vehicles and what have you? Apart from the church premises,
our members in town were not spared, their houses were burnt; they were killed
and injured. I was privileged to stay in
that house for 4 years; it was built by the missionaries who took Christianity
to this part of the country. The house that has been for over 100 years was
burnt down to ashes.
Have you
suffered such experience in the past?
I have
witnessed war between the Shaare people and the Nupes, they have never touched
our church. UMCA has always been a place of succour to many. The young and the
older ones always run here for safety. But what do we have this time around,
wanton destruction of lives and properties. This was the first place of attack
when they started their terrorist attack. They looted everywhere and later set
the whole building on fire! We were sure the Estu Nupe of Tsaragi did
collaborate with the Boko Haram to attack us.
Like how much
did the church lost in the chaos?
If we are to
put up an estimate on all that we have lost, the building, vehicles, and
properties looted and cash carted away by the Tapas, our lost is ruining to 200
million naira.
Look at this
new building, it was completed not quite long and the church has been on its
construction for 15 years before we could make it a befitting edifice. It was
burnt down; no single pin was taken out of the building. They came in, looted
and set it on fire! The building alone worth’s 25 million naira. Government
should come to our aid and give us succour. How can we live like strangers on
our land?
How did you
celebrate Christmas?
Celebration! There
was nothing like celebration in Shaare, our people are in grief, they are in
sorrow, we are mourning our dead ones and crying over our loss.
Soldiers are
now everywhere, we couldn’t even move freely in the town. First it was a 24
hours curfew now it has been reduced to 9am to 3pm.
Weddings were cancelled, a lot of things we have
planned for were put on hold and some cancelled due to people’s loss. A groom
lost everything he has saved for his supposed wedding billed to take place on
26th of December. In fact we lost everything! Etsu Tsaragi should be made to
face the wrath of the laws 
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