On the morning of Sunday
15th March, 2020, Emmanuel
Umeh chairman of St. Joseph
Abule Ado, and his fami-
ly prepared for mass. Emmanuel Umeh
wasn’t prepared for what was to unfold as
the day matured. He and his family left the
house for the 8am mass. Before the end of
the mass the church was shocked by a se-
ries of loud sounds which they later con-
firmed to be explosion.
They saw the mass through, after which
parishioners fled in different directions.
Emmanuel prevailed on his wife (who was
just recovering from knee surgery) to stay
back with the family whilst he goes to find
out what was responsible for the blast.
Emmanuel headed toward the plumes
of thick smoke which was in the general
direction of his houses…as he approached
his house the air became thick and more
difficult to breathe and his eyes were sting-
ing from the smoke. His two houses were
intact except for the gate which has been
yanked off ostensibly by the blast. His roof
was damaged at various points and most
of the windows shattered. He headed full
force towards Bethlehem Girls College
where he joined the first responders in the
rescue of the students
He noticed the flow of liquid along the
gutter. That liquid looked like diesel. He
further observed that some of the respond-
ers had blocked the natural flow of the
liquid with. This artificial blockage now
resulted in the liquid spilling over and
headed for his house. Before long his build-
ings were on fire. The fire fighters were slow to respond.
Emmanuel Umeh our brother lost
everything to the raging fire.
