{"id":3697,"date":"2013-05-15T14:27:03","date_gmt":"2013-05-15T14:27:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/disnaija.com\/nigerian-newspapers\/my-son-was-baptised-days-before-his-death\/"},"modified":"2013-05-15T14:27:03","modified_gmt":"2013-05-15T14:27:03","slug":"my-son-was-baptised-days-before-his-death","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/disnaija.com\/my-son-was-baptised-days-before-his-death\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018My son was baptised days before his death\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A retired laboratory scientist, Mr. Nanyah Nimsel, whose son, Ponfa, was one of the State Security Service operatives that died in the ambush by the Ombatse Cult group, says his greatest happiness is that his son was baptised before he died.<\/p>\n

Grieving Nimsel told our correspondent at his residence at Nanmwa, Abbatoir area of Jos South on Tuesday that the issue of baptism had been a source of quarrel between him and the deceased.<\/p>\n

He said, \u201cMy son attended many missionary schools but my biggest quarrel with him was that he was yet to be baptized and I was happy when he finally got baptised at Covenant Church on April 27.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ponfa, 28, was killed along with 12 other operatives during an operation to smash the Ombatse group from their abode in Alakyo, Lafia, Nasarawa State.<\/p>\n

Nimsel said, \u201cOne of the encounters I had with him before his death was a text message he sent to me two or three weeks ago telling me that he wanted to be baptised.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn fact he was getting ready to marry and that was why he decided to be baptised. That was the first and major decision he had made for his life. He came and had the baptism. I was very happy.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 56-year old Nimsel, who retired as the director of medical laboratory sciences in the Plateau State Ministry of Health, said the incident robbed him of the opportunity to stay with his son as he (Nimsel) was due to start a new job with the institute of Human Virology, in Lafia.<\/p>\n

He said, \u201cI was to start a new job with the Institute of Human Virology in Lafia last Sunday and since my son lived in Lafia, I thought I would not have to look for an accommodation. So I phoned him on Tuesday to tell him I was coming. All through that day, I did not get him. I tried again on Wednesday, but no luck.\u201d<\/p>\n

Narrating how he got the news of his son\u2019s death, Nimsel said, \u201cAfter I tried unsuccessfully to get him on Wednesday, one of my sisters called me and asked, \u2018is that what happened?\u2019 And I asked back, \u2018what happened?\u2019 My sister quickly dropped her phone when she must have realised her slip.<\/p>\n

\u201cI got repeated calls after that and it was then I suspected something was amiss. Initially my mind went to my aged parents, but I phoned them and they said they were okay. It was then one of his friends, a police officer, called and informed me.\u201d<\/p>\n

If Nimsel was aggrieved, his grief was amplified when he saw the charred remains of the victims.<\/p>\n

He said, \u201cWhat I saw in Lafia was horrible. Up till now we have not recovered his remains because they had no form of identification and we were told that their phones were taken away before they embarked on the ill-fated mission<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have been hearing many stories. They have made us travel to Lafia for identification, but they were not recognisable. Some were thrown into wells and others buried in shallow graves and you know Lafia is very hot. Asking us to come to Lafia was to add to our agony because the sight was horrible. If they had not allowed us to see anything, it would have been better.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn fact there are more questions than answers because I have not heard where non-combatants were asked to go on such a risky operation without protection and without being told where they were going.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Posted in Nigerian Newspapers. <\/a>A DisNaija.Com<\/a> network.<\/p>\n

Source: Punch Newspaper<\/p>\n

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