Dozens killed in Nigeria Christmas bombings
Islamist militants set off bombs across in Nigeria on Christmas Day - targeting three churches, raising fears of sectarian civil war.
At least 40 people have been killed in Nigeria in Christmas Day bomb attacks, including some on churches during services.
A purported spokesman for Islamist group Boko Haram claimed responsibility for the bombing of a church outside the capital Abuja and other violence that has stoked fear and anger in Africa’s most populous nation.
Nigeria’s national security adviser has blamed Boko Haram for the attacks, in which people were killed as they left church. Some were burnt in their cars.
Bomb blast ... a car burns after an explosion at St Theresa Catholic Church at Madalla, Suleja, just outside Nigeria's capital Abuja. Photo: Reuters
The attacks were condemned by the Vatican, the White House and several western countries.
Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan vowed to bring the perpetrators to justice and said that ‘‘Nigerians must stand as one to condemn them’’.
The attacks occurred despite claims of recent arrests of Boko Haram members. Nigeria is roughly divided between a mainly Muslim north and a Christian south.
In one of Sunday’s attacks, a suicide bomber tried to ram a military convoy in front of a secret-police building in the northeastern city of Damaturu. Three security agents and the bomber were killed.
The area around the St Theresa Catholic Church, in Madalla outside Abuja, degenerated into chaos after the blast, as angry youths started fires and threatened to rush a nearby police station.
Police shot into the air to disperse them and closed a highway.A Vatican spokesman labelled the Madalla bombing an act of ‘‘blind hatred’’.
There was also a bomb blast outside an evangelical church in the central city of Jos. A spokesman for the governor said a policeman had been killed.
Another explosion targeted a church in the northeastern area of Gadaka on Christmas Eve, but no one was reported killed. Two other blasts - one of them the suicide bombing - hit the northeastern city of Damaturu on Christmas Day.
The church in Madalla showed signs of damage from a powerful blast, with holes in the walls and a badly damaged roof. Cars were destroyed or badly damaged.National Security Adviser Owoye Azazi said in a statement that Boko Haram members had thrown improvised explosive devices from a moving vehicle at St Theresa Church.
Father Christopher Barde told AFP that the attack happened as the Christmas morning service was ending. Some of the wounded had run to him for blessings, including one person in a critical state.
‘‘It was really terrible,’’ said Barde. ‘‘Some people ran towards me - (saying) ’Father anoint me’.’’
Benjamin Ekwegbali, a social worker at the church, described scenes of horror and destruction, with ‘‘corpses littered everywhere’’.
He said there had been ‘‘a very loud sound’’ as people were leaving the church.
‘‘It shook everywhere,’’ he said. ‘‘When I looked back to see what happened, it was difficult to see anything. Everywhere was dark. Fire was burning.’’
Nigerian police affairs minister Caleb Olubolade, who visited the scene, said: ‘‘This is like an internal war against the country’’.
Boko Haram has claimed responsibility for scores of attacks in Nigeria, including the August suicide bombing of UN headquarters in Abuja that killed at least 24 people.
Boko Haram also claimed to have carried out a string of bomb blasts in the central city of Jos on Christmas Eve 2010.
In three cities in the northeast, where most of the violence attributed to Boko Haram has occurred, the attacks followed a military crackdown in which authorities and a right group say up to 100 people were killed.The chief of army staff was quoted by local media as saying soldiers had killed 59 Boko Haram members in Damaturu in shoot-outs on Thursday and Friday.
Violence blamed on the sect has steadily worsened in recent months, with bombings becoming more frequent and sophisticated. At least 280 people have been killed since November.
The attacks have continued despite well-publicised raids on so-called bomb factories and arrests of a number of alleged Boko Haram members.There has been intense speculation about whether Boko Haram (whose name means ‘‘Western education is sin‘‘) has links with Al-Qaeda’s north African branch.
Boko Haram launched an uprising in 2009 that was put down by a brutal military assault which left some 800 dead. Its mosque and headquarters in the northeastern city of Maiduguri were left in ruins.
The group went dormant for a time, then re-emerged in 2010 with a series of assassinations.
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