Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State on Monday promised to pay for damaged items at St. Augustine’s Catholic Church, Tudun-Wada where the church altar was burnt last Friday night by unknown persons.
The governor, who led other government officials for a visit to the church, commended Kaduna Polytechnic students for putting off the fire, adding that investigation into the incident was ongoing.
He told journalists after the assessment of the church that all those behind the incident wanted to cause another round of crisis in the state, but applauded Kaduna residents for living in peace with one another
“We are here to visit the church and sympathise with them. We once again thank Kaduna Polytechnic students for putting off the fire. As the police have said, three suspects were arrested and investigation is still ongoing.
“I directed the church officials to write to us and the government will pay for the damaged properties,” he said.
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Also speaking, chairman of the church pastoral council, Dr.Daniel Attach, while narrating how the incident happened, said around11:35pm last Friday, the students of Kaduna Polytechnic noticed smoke coming out of the church and they called the church priest.
“Someone used the church keys and opened the door, went inside and set fire in the church and left. Nobody broke into the church as you can, two of our new security guards who are in charge of the church keys were not around when we came.
“We reported the incident to police and they arrested our security guards and the one that just left the job,” he added.
On his part, the Divisional Police Officer, Tudun Wada, CSP Mohammed Yusuf, said the three suspects arrested are helping the police unravel those behind the incident.
