"Fair Use for Information & Discussion Purposes"

By Ola Awoniyi
AFP
December 26, 2011 1:14AM


Men look at the wreckage of a car following a bomb blast at St Theresa
Catholic Church outside the Nigerian capital Abuja. Picture: AFP


BOMB attacks on churches during Christmas services, including one
outside the capital, have killed at least 28 people in Nigeria amid
spiralling violence claimed by an Islamist group.


A purported spokesman for Islamist group Boko Haram claimed
responsibility for a bombing of the church outside the Nigerian capital
and other violence in recent days that has stoked fear and anger in
Africa's most populous nation.


Authorities have been seemingly unable to stop the attacks despite
heavy-handed military crackdowns and claims of arrests of Boko Haram
members.


The area around the scene of the blast outside the capital Abuja, which
killed at least 27, degenerated into chaos after the explosion, with
angry youths starting fires and threatening to attack a nearby police
station.


Police shot into the air to disperse them and closed a major highway.
Emergency officials called for more ambulances as rescuers sought to
evacuate the dead and wounded, and calm later returned to the area.


In a swift response, a Vatican spokesman condemned that attack as an act
of "blind hatred" which sought "to arouse and feed even more hatred and
confusion."


A bomb blast later hit outside an evangelical church hundreds of
kilometres away in the central city of Jos, killing a policeman,
according to a spokesman for the governor.


Another explosion targeted a church in the northeastern area of Gadaka
on Christmas Eve, but no one was reported killed, while two other blasts
hit the northeastern city of Damaturu on Christmas Day, including a
suspected suicide bombing.


Emergency officials initially said the blast outside Abuja happened in
the church, but later said it occurred near it, with the impact felt
inside the church, which was also damaged.


Holes could be seen in the wall of the St Theresa Catholic Church in
Madalla and the roof was badly damaged. What looked to be blood was
splashed on the outside of the wall.


"The officials who counted them told me that 27 people died," Father
Christopher Barde told AFP, adding that the explosion happened as the
Christmas morning service was ending.


"As I reached the last entrance, some people met me for blessings and
suddenly I heard a bomb blast. It was really terrible."


Nigerian police affairs minister Caleb Olubolade visited the scene .


"This is like an internal war against the country," he said. "So we have
to really live up to it and face it squarely."


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"Fair Use for Information & Discussion Purposes"

At least 25 dead in explosion at church in Nigeria


Email this Story

Dec 25, 6:37 AM (ET)

By JON GAMBRELL

LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) - An explosion ripped through a Catholic church during Christmas Mass near Nigeria's capital Sunday, killing at least 25 people, officials said. A second explosion later went off near another church in the restive city of Jos, raising fears that a radical Muslim sect was to blame.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blasts, but the explosions come amid a wave of attacks in Nigeria by Boko Haram, which has been blamed for at least 465 killings this year alone. Last year a series of Christmas Eve bombings in Jos that were claimed by the militants left at least 32 dead and 74 wounded.

The first explosion on Sunday struck St. Theresa Catholic Church in Madalla, a town in Niger state close to the capital, Abuja, authorities said. Rescue workers recovered at least 25 bodies from the church and officials continued to tally those wounded in various hospitals, said Slaku Luguard, a coordinator with Nigeria's National Emergency Management Agency.

His agency already has acknowledged it didn't have enough ambulances immediately on hand to help the wounded. Luguard also said an angry crowd gathered at the blast site hampered rescue efforts as they refused to allow workers inside.

"We're trying to calm the situation," Luguard said. "There are some angry people around trying to cause problems."

In Jos, a second explosion struck near a Mountain of Fire and Miracles Church, government spokesman Pam Ayuba said. Ayuba said gunmen later opened fire on police guarding the area, wounding one police officer. Two other locally made explosives were found in a nearby building and disarmed, he said.

"The military are here on ground and have taken control over the entire place," Ayuba said.

The city of Jos is located on the dividing line between Nigeria's predominantly Christian south and Muslim north. Thousands have died in communal clashes there over the last decade.

The U.S. Embassy in Nigeria's capital of Abuja had issued a warning Friday to citizens to be "particularly vigilant" around churches, large crowds and areas where foreigners congregate.

Several days of fighting in the northeast between the sect and security forces already had killed at least 61 people, authorities said.

In the last year, Boko Haram has carried out increasingly bloody attacks in its campaign to implement strict Shariah law across Nigeria, a nation of more than 160 million people.

Boko Haram claimed responsibility for a Nov. 4 attack on Damaturu, Yobe state's capital, that killed more than 100 people. The group also claimed the Aug. 24 suicide car bombing of the U.N. headquarters in Nigeria's capital that killed 24 people and wounded 116 others.

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]"Fair Use for Information & Discussion Purposes"

Massive Christmas carnage in Nigeria; 5 churches bombed*


By the CNN Wire Staff
updated 5:53 PM EST, Sun December 25, 2011


STORY HIGHLIGHTS


NEW: Nigeria's president condemns Christmas bombings in five cities
NEW: Washington offers to help Nigeria find those responsible
The government says 16 died in Madalla; witnesses give a higher figure
The blasts follow attacks on five churches in Nigeria during last
year's Christmas season


Jos, Nigeria (CNN) -- A string of bombs struck churches in five Nigerian
cities Sunday, leaving dozens dead and wounded on the holiday,
authorities and witnesses said.


The blasts mark the second holiday season that bombs have hit Christian
houses of worship in the west African nation. In a statement issued late
Tuesday, Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan called the bombings "a
dastardly act that must attract the rebuke of all peace-loving Nigerians."


"These acts of violence against innocent citizens are an unwarranted
affront on our collective safety and freedom," Jonathan said. "Nigerians
must stand as one to condemn them."


Bombs targeted churches across the country, hitting the cities of
Madalla, Jos, Kano, and Damaturu and Gadaka, said journalist Hassan
John, who witnessed the carnage in Jos. The death toll in Madalla alone
was 16, Nigeria's National Emergency Management Agency spokesman Yushau
Shuaib told CNN.


John said witnesses in Madalla reported a higher death toll, with more
than 30 killed. Some victims died after being taken to a hospital, he said.


In Damaturu, a northern town in Yobe state, a police station and a state
security building were also bombed, an aid worker said. The worker asked
not to be named for security reasons.


Deadly bombings in Nigeria on Christmas
Christmas Day bomb blast in Nigeria


Nwakpa Okorie, a spokesman for the Nigerian Red Cross, said the some of
the wounded were taken to the capital Abuja for treatment.


"The situation is under control now. The security agents have secured
the streets close to the bombed areas ... in Madalla, Jos and Dematuru,"
he said.


Jonathan said his government "will not relent in its determination to
bring to justice all the perpetrators of today's acts of violence and
all others before now." And in Washington, the White House said U.S.
officials would help Nigeria pursue those behind "what initially appear
to be terrorist acts."


"We condemn this senseless violence and tragic loss of life on Christmas
Day," White House spokesman Jay Carney said in a written statement. "We
offer our sincere condolences to the Nigerian people and especially
those who lost family and loved ones."


The first explosion Sunday struck near a Roman Catholic church in
Madalla, west of Abuja, Nigeria's capital, the National Emergency
Management Agency said. Church officials were trying to get a picture of
what happened in the city.


"Lives have been lost but we do not have the details," said the Rev.
Michael Ekpenyong. "The area has been cordoned off. I tried to call the
priest but I couldn't get through."


Ekpenyong, the secretary general of the country's Catholic Secretariat,
said the church that was bombed was "not a big church, but lots of
people attend." Photos from the scene showed burned-out cars and at
least three bodies on the ground, one covered with a blanket, at the
rural church.


Usman Abdallah Baba, who witnessed the bombing, said there were at least
15 or 16 casualties and that authorities were still counting the toll.


Baba said local people were already blaming the violent extremist Muslim
Boko Haram sect, which has targeted Christians as well as Muslims its
members consider insufficiently Islamic.


In 2010, five churches in Jos were attacked while residents were
celebrating Christmas Eve. The blasts killed dozens in Jos, which lies
on a faith-based fault line between the Muslim-dominated north and the
mainly Christian south.


Sunday, two blasts targeted the Mountain of Fire Ministries church in
Jos, northeast of the capital, said John. No one was killed in that
bombing, which John called a "miracle" -- but a police officer who got
into a gun battle with the attackers died of his wounds later, John
said, citing officials.


The second church, in Jos, was hit by two explosions when young men
threw bombs, John said. Police responded quickly and exchanged gunfire
with the attackers, who wounded at least one of the police officers, he
said.

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