In a viral video shared by Nigerian investigative journalist Usman Kim Marasa, Anglican Priest Rev. Bright McTitus has recounted how he was attacked and severely injured by a Muslim neighbour in his home along Dilimi Street, located in the Muslim-dominated northern part of Jos, central Nigeria.
During the sectarian riots that struck the city in September 2001, the pharmacist and minister in the Anglican Church, Rev. McTitus, who had dedicated his life to serving his community, met his Waterloo at the hands of neighbours he had once lived in peace with.
Anglican priest, Rev. Bright McTitus, survivor. Credit: Masara Kim/EquippingThePersecuted.org.
“He disclosed that on that fateful afternoon, the very people he helped turned on him, attacking him with machetes and leaving him motionless.
“I helped to treat the daughter [of] whooping cough. I brought drugs. I called Ahmadu and gave him the drug to go and treat his daughter. He knelt and thanked me. So, when he came [to attack me], I called his name. Ahmadu, you, my friend, you joined to come and kill me? He said, ‘a friend to chicken is a friend to kill.’
“It was on a Saturday. That room, my room upstairs, is not too big. I just, in that room, they entered. Three people first entered, carrying a knife to harass me. I said, What is that? What is that? They said, I do morning cry every day. I call it the morning cry that I’m disturbing them, calling Jesus. I recognise three people then. They are our Muslim brothers.
Rev. Bright McTitus, his child and wife.
“One of them said, Kill him, he is a Christian; he is a Reverend. Kill him, kill him. The ringleader, Mr. Ahmadu, brought them. he sells meat near our yard. Anytime I need meat, I will go to his place. That is how I managed to know him very well. He was the person who first hit me with that knife. He said, Kill him, he said he is a Pastor. I got up and said, What is that? I pushed my table. The other one said, Look for a gun. The one with a stick hit me. I fell to the ground. They started slaughtering me. There was blood around me; it was warm. If I turn like this, it gums my body.”
He also claimed that his sister deposited his body at the Jos University Teaching Hospital (JUTH) for three days, moments from burial, before a neighbour prayed over him and a miracle occurred.
“There was a statement I made. I said it was all for pleasure. My senior sister came and carried my dead body to JUTH. I was in the Mortuary for three days. I’m a pharmacist. The wife of a colleague told her husband what happened to me – their family friend. Then he said, Where did they keep his dead body? He said, JUTH Mortuary. He said, I’m coming back now. The man had to come back to JUTH. They ordered the Mortuary attendants to remove my dead body from the morgue. Then they removed me.
Rev. Bright McTitus and his friend’s wife.
“By that time, Fridge had helped me, according to the man. He started praying on my dead body. For more than two and a half hours, God sent my life back. The doctor removed his stethoscope and checked whether God had answered his prayer. He discovered that there was a pulse. Then he readjusted himself and really started looking at his wristwatch, according to him.
“He said, Every ten minutes, my heart will beat. Every ten minutes, my heart will beat. And that was why he ordered the stretcher to take me to the intensive care unit. Then they took me to intensive. There I stayed a year and three months in JUTH. I don’t know if any examination was made. I don’t know. But what I know is that God has brought my life back. I was dead,” he disclosed.
Showing his wounds, Rev. McTitus said, “See me, see my head, see knife, see here, see knife, see, see knife, see knife. Let me show you this one. Wait, let me show you this one. See him, see him, my tendon was cut. It cut my tendon. See him.”
Rev. Bright McTitus (2nd L) and his family.
He lauded the courage, philanthropy and faith of Dr. Onche, who made the miracle possible, while appreciating God for saving his life.
“Dr. Onche said to me, Reverend, now God has brought you back…you will forget about these things. I will take care of you. Every day, he sent his young doctors to come and see me. They will come around me. They will play with me, discuss with me. There is one that said it’s a rare acute tendon. They did it on me, on this leg. It’s an operation on this leg. They repaired this leg. I thank God. I’m alive, talking now. See this hand, they cut me here. My God is a Good God,” he narrated.
Editor’s Note: Featured photo is courtesy of Masara Kim/EquippingThePeresecuted.org.
