*Says son was never a Muslim for one day
*Samuel not first Christian Boko Haram, Nigerians speak, give list
Mr Samuel Ezekiel, father of Nathaniel Samuel, the man who was arrested for trying to bomb a Living Faith Church in Kaduna, has confirmed that his son is a Christian, and not a Muslim as being speculated on social media.
“No! Not even for a single day has he been a Muslim,” Ezekiel said in his Marabar Demishi village, in Kaduna.
Nathaniel Samuel’s true identity has become a controversy in the social media, with some accusing the police of changing his name to deflect anger against Boko Haram or the muslim community.
Some reports said Samuel had told the Christian leaders who arrested him at the Winners Chapel branch in Kaduna that he was Mohammed Sani, only for the police to parade him as Nathaniel Samuel.
Nathaniel Samuel: source Facebook.
Nat
But a reporter, who visited the father along with the Kaduna State Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Reverend Joseph Hayab found otherwise.
Nathaniel was born in 1991 and schooled in the state, his father said. His mother is from Nasarawa State even though she no longer lives with them.
Mr Ezekiel said his son has been a Christian and not a Muslim even for a single day. He denied that his son bears Mohammed Sani.
Ezekiel also said he was shocked when he was told that his son carried a bomb into a church because he wondered what would have happened to the lives of people in the church.
Nathaniel Samuel, left, with a DJ: source Facebook/PMNews
“If he was alone, I don’t care but for the lives that are in the church, I begin to wonder. I shed tears,” he said.
Reverend Hayab Joseph said he knew the father of the suspect for many years, noting that it’s just that he didn’t know that Nathaniel was the son of Mr. Ezekiel until he visited the house.
He said CAN is not concerned about Nathaniel’s name or religion but the act of criminality that he would have committed which should be addressed.
He also expressed disappointment over the failure of the Police to do a thorough check on the suspect’s background, saying that would have saved Nigerians a lot of stress on the identity of the suspect.
It will be recall that Winners’ Chapel Bishop David Oyedepo carefully showed his words reacting to the botched bombing of his Kaduna beach church as he only lightly represented the Christian extremist with just “bomber” while conspicuously hitting on Miyyeti Allah and Boko Haram with curses, an attitude described by many Muslims and reasonable non-Muslims as the pastor’s effort to accept religious identity being publicised of Samuel.
The CAN’s manipulation trying to hide or bury the Christian identity of Samuel with a view to shifting the blame to Muslims led to many suspicious stories being posted on social media.
One pinned down to a poster (names withheld) quoted John Hayab, Chairman CAN, Kaduna State as saying as reported by Punch as follows:
Nathaniel or Nasir?
“Let me state clearly that it was not the police that arrested him.”
“It was the church that arrested him and then handed him over to the police.”
“The police came to pick him up at the church.”
“At the time he was interrogated at the church, he told the church that his name was Mohammed Sani, but when he was handed over to the police, the police told everyone that his name was Samuel Nathaniel.”
“The mix-up in the name of the suspect has further given credence to the claims by the United States that Nigeria remained a terrorist-prone country because of a lack of database.”
However, another poster replying the first poster quoting CAN gave a list of Boko Haram attacks that were found to be by Christians in Nigeria:
He gave the list as follows:
CHRISTIAN INVOLVEMENT IN TERRORISM
By Jimoh Sule
This is not the first time a non Muslim/Fulani will be caught in acts of terrorism
(1) Mr. John Alaku Akpavan, the man arrested in attempting to bomb Radio House Abuja on 5th June 2011 was a christian.
(2) Lydia Joseph (the failed bomber of St. John Catholic Cathedral) of Bauchi State who attempted to bomb a church on September 12, 2011 was a christian.
(3) Augustine Effiong Akwa Ibom indigene who carried out the April 29th 2012 BUK bomb attack is a christian.
(4) Emmanuel King arrested in an attempt to bomb the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital, while camouflaged in Islamic attire on December 28, 2011 was a Christian.
(5) Igbo traders who gunned down a dozen fellow Igbo businessmen of the same non-Islamic faith inside the Christ Apostolic Church, in Adamawa State on Friday January 6, 2012 all claimed to be Christians.
(6) Samson Mangai who was arrested in Plateau state attempting to bomb a church was a christian.
(7) Madam Ruth, who attempted to bomb the ECWA church, Kalari Kaltungo, in Gombe State on 12 Mar 2012 was a Christian.
(8) Case of the arrest of about eight Christians in Bauchi in an attempt to blast the COCIN church on Sunday, February 26, 2012.
(9) Case of the Christian bomber lynched while escaping after blasting the COCIN Church in Jos on Sunday, February 26, 2012. Mr Alex Danladi involved in COCIN HQ bombing was lynched by worshipers. He was a church member disguised in military
uniform.
(10) Jonathan Gyanet, police officer was arrested while attempting to bomb ERCC church in Akwanga Nasarawa state on Apri 20, 2014 was also a Christian.
(11) Ogbeche the Nyanya bombing mastermind was a Christian son of a retired army colonel.
(12) Those arrested so for for providing logistics such as transports, food, ammunition to BH are Christians of a particular ethnic group in Nigeria.
And many more including Nathaniel Samuel.
