Boko Haram claims responsibility for Nigeria attacks
The Islamist sect Boko Haram has claimed responsibility for a wave of Christmas day bombings across Nigeria, including an attack on a Catholic church that killed at least 25 people.



Boko Haram spokesman Abu Qaqa claimed the bombings in a statement to the journalists' association of Maiduguri, capital of the group's heartland.

The Christmas Day attacks show the growing national ambition of the sect known as Boko Haram, which is responsible for at least 491 killings this year alone, according to an Associated Press count. The assaults come a year after a series of Christmas Eve bombings in Jos 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 that 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."
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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, killing 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.

After the bombings, a Boko Haram spokesman using the nom de guerre Abul-Qaqa claimed responsibility for the attacks in an interview with The Daily Trust, the newspaper of record across Nigeria's Muslim north. The sect has used the newspaper in the past to communicate with public.

The US 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 and around the northeastern city of Damaturu between the sect and security forces already had killed at least 61 people, authorities said.

On Sunday, local police commissioner Tanko Lawan said two explosions had struck Damaturu, including a suicide car bombing. Lawan said that blast happened around noon, targeting the headquarters of Nigeria's secret police in the area. There was no immediate information about casualties, he 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 UN headquarters in Nigeria's capital that killed 24 people and wounded 116 others.

The sect came to national prominence in 2009, when its members rioted and burned police stations near its base of Maiduguri, a dusty northeastern city on the cusp of the Sahara Desert. Nigeria's military violently put down the attack, crushing the sect's mosque into shards as its leader was arrested and died in police custody. About 700 people died during the violence.

While initially targeting enemies via hit-and-run assassinations from the back of motorbikes after the 2009 riot, violence by Boko Haram now has a new sophistication and apparent planning that includes high-profile attacks with greater casualties.

Boko Haram has splintered into three factions, with one wing increasingly willing to kill as it maintains contact with terror groups in North Africa and Somalia, diplomats and security sources say.

Sect members are scattered throughout northern Nigeria and nearby Cameroon, Chad and Niger.




Three more blasts reported in Nigeria, bringing total to 5
Five blasts targeting churches, public spaces and offices blast in Nigeria on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, leaving at least 28 dead

Explosion strikes church near Nigeria capital
Three more explosions have been reported in Nigeria, including two on Christmas Day in the city of Damaturu and another targeting a church on Christmas Eve in Gadaka, residents said.

Two other blasts near churches on Christmas morning, including one near the capital Abuja, left at least 28 people dead.

"A bomb went off at the major roundabout and another one exploded at the [secret police] office," a resident in Damaturu, located in Nigeria's northeast, told AFP. "It is believed to be a suicide bombing."

Other residents gave similar accounts. Police could not immediately be reached.

In Gadaka, also in the northeast, "Christian worshippers were attacked at the church in Gadaka while observing a Christmas vigil," a resident said.

"The worshippers fled but the attackers burnt their cars they abandoned. Nobody was hurt and the church was not touched."


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/nigeria/8977493/Boko-Haram-claims-responsibility-for-Nigeria-attacks.html

we dont av a president in dis country

Up jonamumu

its time the boko guys are dealt with.we cant continue to lose lives to these lunatics

We the christians of Nigeria need to pray fervently against this devilish islamist, GOD BLESS NIGERIA

It is said that a people deserve the kind of leadership they get, but I don't think Nigerians, even in their wildest imaginations, reckoned with the kind of ineptitude this government has displayed. It begs the question whether there exists any security outfit in Nigeria at all! What happened to drawing on history and their recent bloody exchanges with this people to put the security forces on red alert on a day like this? Instead all we get is a reactionary force. Lord knows I am tired already.

seriously what are we doing about this!

DAYUM!!! this is serious!!

This country is finished, to think that there was intelligence report warning about the likelihood of these attacks over a month ago.The Government still refused to be proactive.what a shame, my honest take is that the whole structure has collapsed,no power,millions of unemployed/able youths,dwindling economy,terrible infrastructure, the list goes on and on.God,what do we do?

narttis1:

its time the boko guys are dealt with.we cant continue to lose lives to these lunatics

tell that to the black he-goat covering his bald brain with hat.

trublu:

This country is finished, to think that there was intelligence report warning about the likelihood of these attacks over a month ago.The Government still refused to be proactive.what a shame, my honest take is that the whole structure has collapsed,no power,millions of unemployed/able youths,dwindling economy,terrible infrastructure, the list goes on and on.God,what do we do?

No, to think that Boko Haram threatened to do this and they did it effectively is so depressing. Oshiomole said: "Governance is not about sermonizing, it is about action." Goodluck Jonathan is not providing security, no effective action from this particular Commander-in-Chief.

We know Boko Haram is evil but what is the government going to do about it! If you don't curb them they will do more evil things, they must be stopped effectively not on the pages of newspapers or with slogans! I am really furious right now!

[size=25pt]Belief in a cruel God makes a cruel man.
Thomas Paine[/size]

[size=25pt]ISLAM IS NO RELIGION!. ISLAM IS TERROR!! ISLAM IS EVIL!!! ISLAM IS DYING!!!![/size].

This bokorubish and islamistrubish are just crazzyy lunatics! Was their fight not against police as revenge for their dead leader? Why do they have to attack innocent people in a church. They are drawing a line and they are about to cross their own boundaries, Nobody will kill my kin and go scot free, Gej crush them now.

This is really getting out of control; Please Igbos,leave the north now!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I smell BLOODSHED !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I beg you guys in the name of the lord,please leave the north now!!!!

where is the nigerian government.only nema has been present and have been on bbc.i am shocked @the nigerian government and dont know what more to say.for christsakes if jonathan cannot even address us.y d hell is he occupyn that position?what is this rubbish parading itself as a government?ob visited pipeline infernos some xmas eve ago even though he was crude abt it he was visible.are we governing ourselves and is our govt like a masqurade that appears on speacial occasions?enough is enough we are tired of carnage and ineptitude.

Are these boko haram idiots really above the law?it beats me why they are bombing churches?is there a religious undertone to this?

Nigerians are yet to see anything. I guess what we are seeing now is just the tip of the iceberg. By the time the vicious cycle of the ineptitude of dumbjoe's administration comes full spin we would gnashing our teeth like the grinding stones of Babylon. The earlier an intervention the better. We  need no necromancer to decipher the handwriting on the wall. It clear that this administration is clueless as to the way forward. I say impeach or impale dumbjoe now!

People, pick up your weapons and begin bombing their mosques as well, Enough of all these terrorist talks, if Muslims cannot come out and condemn this openly, and STOP harboring them, I think their mosque should be targeted.

They are bombing churches. Of course there is a religious undertone.

This is a declaration of war against all Christians in Nigeria!

DIVIDE NIGERIA NOW  we dont want to be part of these animals called boko haram enough is enough .

manny4life:

People, pick up your weapons and begin bombing their mosques as well, Enough of all these terrorist talks, if Muslims cannot come out and condemn this openly, and STOP harboring them, I think their mosque should be targeted.

christianity is a religion of peace. I just don't know why jonathan is quiet over this,what pains me most is that i'm among people that voted for him.

the million dollar question is where are this assholes getting their funds from

See this Professor on Aljazeera talking about Issue Peripherization and what is the other rubbish he was talking about? They are asking you for simple explanations, you are giving theories.

Wexelion:

christianity is a religion of peace. I just don't know why jonathan is quiet over this,what pains me most is that i'm among people that voted for him.

Yeah, no doubt it's a religion of peace but when WAR is declared upon you, even in the Bible, the children of God went to war, didn't they? They have declared outright WAR on Christians, what else do you want them to do?

did anyone read this in the OP?:

"The US 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".

Everyday I feel so disappointed in GEJ, I thought I could see something bright in him, but indeed, he proves me WRONG everyday.

@all

It baffles me how pple dont always hesitate to put blames on the doorstep of jonathan`s govt.I still beleive we christians have our own destiny in our hands,just as they are bombing our churches in the north i feel we shld start bombing mosques here too ,let them know that nobody has the monopoly of violence,just as they want to make the north inhabitable to christians we should also make the south uncomfortable for them too,enough ! is enough!!