The Kaduna State chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has made a startling revelation about the middle-aged man suspected to be a suicide bomber at the Living Faith Church, Sabin Tasha, Kaduna state.

The "suicide bomber" was arrested with a duffel bag containing items suspected to be explosive devices.

Chairman of the Christian body in the state, Rev. John Hayab, said he had identified himself as Mohammed Sani when he was apprehended by the church on Sunday, February 2, 2020.

The cleric expressed surprise over the sudden change of the suspected suicide bomber's name from "Mohammed Sani" to "Nathaniel Samuel" after he was handed over to the Police.

He called for the thorough investigation of the matter beyond the religion or alleged name change.

"The church was in session when the young man came in, dropped his bag and exited as if he was going to the toilet, but didn’t come back in time. Some church members became suspicious. The church had put security measures in place such that they monitor everything going on in the church and they even have CCTV cameras," the cleric said according to Punch.

“They discovered that what was in the bag looked like explosives, so they called the police. Let me state clearly that it was not the police that arrested him. It was the church that arrested him and then handed him over to the police.

“The police came to pick him up at the church. At the time he was interrogated at the church, he told the church that his name was Mohammed Sani, but when he was handed over to the police, the police told everyone that his name was Samuel Nathaniel," he added.

Hayab accused the police of failing to effectively investigate and profile suspects, adding that a few weeks ago, the force also arrested a hoodlum and erroneously paraded him as a pastor.

“This incident justifies the US’ decision to place visa restrictions on Nigerians. The US government told us that one of the reasons for the visa ban was that Nigeria do not do proper background checks on people.

“So, a criminal can go to one part of Kaduna and bear John, travel to another part of the state and bear Abdullahi or Oluwole or Emeka and nobody will know. So, let us stop focusing on his name but his crime. A criminal is a criminal.

"There are now two versions, one from the church and one from the police.

“I don’t care what his name is. All I know is that a criminal wanted to blow up a church and kill people. The police should find out who his sponsors are and not play politics with names. Last week, a man was paraded by the police for faking his kidnap and identified as a pastor, only for us to find out he was never a pastor.

“I know Muslims that bear Paul, I know Christians that bear Mohammed. Our CAN chairman in Borno State is Mohammed Laga. I have a cousin that bears Mohammed Paul. So, let us not focus on the name but on the act of terrorism,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Police in Kaduna has assured Nigerians that they would "thoroughly investigate" the matter.