• PG student who survived two Bauchi explosions, robbery attack vows to complete programme before going back home in Cross River
Ephraim Ekpenyong is a civil servant from Cross River State. He is a staff of the State Civil Service. But he chose to come to Bauchi State, for a post-graduate degree programme, against advice from family, friends and well-wishers.
Call him a cat with nine lives; you will not be far from it. He has survived two Boko Haram bomb explosions and armed robbery attacks, at different times. These experiences are enough for an average southerner, who has never lived anywhere in the North to relocate.
But Ekpenyong thought differently. He told Daily Sun that unless he completes his programme at the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University (ATBU), Bauchi, he would not go anywhere. This is even as he attributed his survival to divine intervention.
He narrated his encounter with armed robbers in March 2014, saying what transpired strengthened his faith in the power of God and protection for His children who put their trust in Him: “I boarded a night bus and was coming to Bauchi from Enugu, between Lafia and Jos, the road was under construction then. Around 4am, a small car overtook us and the next thing we heard were gunshots.”
Ekpenyong thought it was a tyre of their Macopolo bus that burst. But he was dead wrong. He was actually asleep but was rudely woken up by the deafening sound. The bus was forced to a stop and the armed robbers asked everyone to lie face down after putting a gun to the driver’s head.
Suddenly, a male passenger started declaring loudly: “I am a Chosen, I would not die, I am a Chosen, and I would not die.” Ekpenyong who he is a member of the Living Faith Church also known as Winners Chapel, said when he heard the man making utterances in the presence of the heavily armed men, he resorted to prayer:
“Although, I was afraid, but seeing the man’s confidence, my faith was jerked to life.” He said tthe leader of the three-man armed robbery gang was infuriated that the passenger has the temerity to challenge them that he could not die.
But what happened next was what Ekpenyong said jolted him to the realisation that there is a Supreme Being called God who protects His children in times of danger when they call on Him:
“The gang leader was livid. We were all lying face down. Everyone was praying but the man refused to obey their order to lie down. The leader ordered his man carrying the gun to shoot him while he walked outside the bus.
“He pulled the trigger but the gun went mute. He tried several times and realising that the man may have some power beyond him, he went outside to meet the leader. After explaining to the leader, the leader collected the gun from him and fired it twice and asked him to go back and finish that man.
“After the gun refused to fire yet again, they tried to pull the man out of the bus but he was defiant and stood his ground. The robbers came to the rear of the bus and the passengers moved to the front of the buss and gathered there.”
Ekpenyong was the next passenger the robbers approached, putting the nozzle of a gun on his head, one of the robbers demanded for money from him. He said that it was as if the spirit of the passenger who defied them had arrested him. Instead of complying, Ephraim said he switched to prayer too:
“I was no longer afraid. I developed a confidence like Bishop David Oyedepo. I was praying and suddenly, one of the robbers standing over us saw blood coming out from the legs of his colleague who couldn’t shoot the passenger that was shouting. He removed the gun pointed on my head. The other one was worried, gave a sign and they entered their car and left.”
He said what surprised all the passengers in the bus was that there was no object or broken bottle, wondering what must have caused the bleeding. Ekpenyong said when they continued the journey, the Chosen man was accused of risking the lives of other passengers by defying the robbers.
Some others were grateful that his act of faith in God resulted in defeat of the robbers.
Ekpenyong told how he also escaped death by the whiskers during the bomb blast that was targeted at the Living Faith Church, Bauchi, in June 2012, when he went to worship with his friend, Ayodeji Ayandebu:
“We just entered the gate when the explosion occurred. Ayo had parked his car. But a friend who just finished the second service met us and suggested that he should park somewhere within the church premises.”
He said after the blast, not only did Ayo and himself survived, the car did not have a scratch. But all the other cars parked where Ayo had earlier parked, before he was advised to move it, and he heeded the advice, were all razed.
As if that was not enough, Ekpenyong again escaped another bomb blast that occurred near the Terminus, again in company with Ayo, his friend:
“I was eager to go to the university to submit a form. Ayo kept saying I should leave it till the next day but I insisted.
“He suggested we take some passport photographs on Ahmadu Bello Way. While waiting to collect the passport photographs, we heard the bomb blast behind where we were, near JUTH. But for Ayo who brought the idea of snapping, I would have walked right into that blast.”
With so much pressure coming from relations in Cross River that Ekpenyong should leave Bauchi, he said he would remain to complete his Master’s degree in Electrical electronics Engineering:
“Nobody supported my coming to Bauchi. Initially, I was in Jos, when I started the MSC programme in Bauchi. I got a job in Cross River, but I didn’t want to abandon the programme. But everybody back home is saying come back home.”
THE SUN
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