Eyewitnesses have vehemently rejected the official narrative provided by the police regarding the Easter Monday tragedy in Gombe State, where a truck rammed into a Christian procession, killing five worshippers and injuring several others.
While authorities have described the incident as a tragic accident, residents and witnesses allege it was a deliberate attack meant to instill fear and disrupt future Easter observances.
Bellnews initially reported that a truck transporting goods veered off its course and ploughed into the annual Easter march. However, after a video of the incident went viral and more testimonies emerged, suspicions about the true nature of the event deepened, prompting calls for further investigation.
According to Yusuff Haskee, former Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (Youth Wing) in Gombe State, the incident was anything but accidental.
“This is a long-standing tradition that begins on Sunday evening and concludes after Monday service,” Haskee said. “We always inform security agencies well in advance. So, where were they when this happened?”
Speaking emotionally, Haskee added: “This wasn’t a brake failure — it was a calculated act of intimidation against Christians. I even called out the police publicly during a live radio programme in Gombe yesterday.”
Another eyewitness, Usman, expressed similar doubts. “If the driver lost control, did he also lose the ability to honk? Why didn’t he warn the crowd? The truck came silently from behind — no horn, no signal — just straight into the people. Then it stopped on its own, just ten meters ahead. That’s not an accident. That’s evil.”