largely on a massive rock and affected nearby houses. It caused cracks on the rock and visible cracks on walls of houses. Some witnesses described it as having been a thunderous noise which sounded like a bomb blast. It woke sleeping residents at about 10:43pm, Daily Trust reports.
Some houses in the area were deserted, as the occupants were said to have left out of fear. The remaining inhabitants, also, are visibly shaken and are still shaking from the experience.
Malam Mustapha Musa, whose carpentry workshop was closed in wake of the quake said the incident is a warning to those who have made homosexuality their trade.
"It’s nothing but a warning from Allah, the most high. Many heartless residents have made the rock a safe haven for raping our young boys. On many occasions, victims were found wounded by rapists around the rock. Parents of some of these boys are still battling to restore them. Those who cannot afford medical bills are suffering in silence," he said.
"Allah is tired with what is happening in Ikara. Apart from the rape of innocent boys, there are many criminal activities taking place here. Most of the perpetrators are known, but it is like they are above the law." he added.Investigation revealed that efforts of clerics and residents ensured that the old town of Ikara, in Ikara local government area of Kaduna State, got rid of commercial sex workers. A major street in the town formerly called ‘Unguwan Karuwai’, (Sex Workers Area) has been renamed Yaka Malam following the expulsion of the prostitutes, cross-dressers and others from the area.
After that, the town of Ikara has been calm and peaceful until the recent tremors. Sani, one of those whose houses were affected by the quake who described the incident as traumatic.
"Actually, I have never witnessed something like that. When the quake started, my entire house was shaking. I thought that the world had come to an end. It is indeed something that one has to keep reflecting on because it is only Allah that is capable of shaking the earth like that," Sani said.
"Another thing that made many of us to vacate our houses was that the quake reoccurred after about seven days. On the two occasions, the quake occurred in the night."Sarkin Ikara, Alhaji Aliyu Suleiman, confirmed to Daily Trust that state government officials had visited the site. On associating the quake to sins committed in Ikara, he agreed that Allah uses such incidents to serve as warning. He however said that both traditional and government leaders are taking measures to bring the criminal acts to an end.
"We’ve put measures in place to ensure that anyone caught committing such sins will be made to regret it. One of the measures is to assign the youths to strip the criminal naked and take him round the town before being handed over to the authorities for further action. Those that are seen as leaders, or men of integrity, but engage in such acts, will be summoned and warned to desist. If they refuse, we will expose them. There will be no sacred cows." said Alhaji Suleiman.Sarki Suleiman also accused non-indigenes for engaging in the unsavoury acts, eventually luring indigenes. Chief Imam of Ikara GRA Juma’at Mosque, Malam Bello Hamza, used the weekly Juma’at prayers that followed the incident to counsel residents to desist from sins that would attract the anger of Allah.
However, a professor of Geography at the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, Ibrahim Musa Jaro, said earthquakes are usually cause by "compressional and tensional” forces. He also said that the belief of the residents is a religious one that cannot be ruled out, adding that since Allah has warned people to desist from sin, disobedience could lead to His anger.
Source: Daily Trust
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