JOS, Nigeria, March 13 (Compass Direct News) – One man rendered a widower by the Islamist suicide bombing at a Catholic church on Sunday (March 11) discovered his wife had been killed only after finding her severed hand with her wedding ring on it. Another could identify his wife only by the clothing left on her remains. Both women, 52-year-old Rose Dominic Dung Tari, and 50-year-old Roseline Kumbo Pam (photo), had given birth to five children. They were two of the nine Christians confirmed killed in the bombing of St. Finbarr’s Catholic Church by Islamic extremists reportedly from the Boko Haram sect. 

Among those killed in the in the blast, church sources said, was Tari Benjamin, who would have been 9 years old on March 26. Emmanuel David, 16, who like Tari was a Boy Scout helping to secure the church compound, was also killed in the blast. Tari’ mother, Rose Benjamin, told Compass that her son died at about 1 a.m. this morning. “They were working alongside security men, screening worshippers before allowing them entry into the church, before the suicide bombers crashed into them when they refused to allow them into the church,” she said. Several members of the church were still missing. 

The Rev. Ignatius Kaigama, archbishop of the Catholic Diocese of Jos, appealed for calm on the part of Christians, saying God was not unaware of their suffering. “We have a faith that preaches the respect of the sanctity of the human life,” Kaigama said. “We have a faith and have the ability to reason. So, we must not behave like those who believe they are serving God by killing others.”