Release International

Scores have been killed and injured in a series of bomb blasts and church attacks in Plateau and Borno states in Nigeria.

In Plateau state, in central Nigeria, at least six bombs exploded on Christmas Eve in the Gada Biyu and Unguwar Rukuba districts of the state capital, Jos. The final death toll has yet to be confirmed but reports suggest at least 30 were killed and more than 50 seriously injured.

In Gada Biyu, the bombs were detonated near a church and in places thronging with people doing last-minute Christmas shopping. This is the first time that substantial bombs have been used in terror attacks against civilians in Plateau, according to Agence France-Presse news agency.

Meanwhile, in Maiduguri, Borno state, about 30 attackers armed with knives and petrol bombs raided the Victory Baptist Church in Alemderi, killing Pastor Bulus Marwa and four others, including two choir members in their 20s. The church was then set alight.

At the Church of Christ in Nigeria (COCIN) Church in Sinimari, 60-year-old security guard Philip Sopso was killed when bombs exploded outside the church. A third church, in the Polo area, reported that explosives planted on its property failed to detonate. Twenty-five other people were injured in the Maiduguri raids, according to Compass Direct.

Islamist militant sect Boko Haram has since claimed responsibility for the attacks in Maiduguri and Jos, according to Reuters news agency. The sect's avowed aim is to extend Islamic or Sharia law across Nigeria and its name means 'Western education is sinful'.

Several sources consider the attacks as an attempt to damage already fragile relations between Muslims and Christians in both states. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has condemned the attacks as 'deplorable'.

Tensions in both areas remain high. Dr Ben Kwashi, Archbishop of Jos, said Christmas celebrations were 'scantily attended' and has urged calm. 'We are a community of hope, a product of hope, sustained by hope in the knowledge that he who saved us is exceedingly abundantly able to deliver from hell, from death, from darkness and from Satan,' he said.

(Sources: Agence France-Presse, BBC, Bloomberg, Compass Direct, Reuters, Stefanos Foundation)

• Ask God to comfort and heal all those who mourn and who are injured. Pray that Christians in Jos and Maiduguri will cling to the hope that is Christ our Saviour.
• Pray that international condemnation of these atrocities will prompt the Nigerian authorities to step up security in Christian communities across the nation.

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