Nigerian Christmas bomb death toll rises to 150

30 Dec 2011 21:01 Source: Reuters // Reuters * Boko Haram is Nigeria's top security headache * Church bombs may be aimed at igniting sectarian conflict * President Jonathan pledges to fight group (Adds Jonathan statement, violence in Maiduguri) ABUJA, Dec 30 (Reuters) - The death toll from a bomb attack on a church just outside Nigeria's capital Abuja on Christmas Day has risen to 37, with 57 people wounded, a source at the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) said on Friday. The bombing at St. Theresa's Catholic church in Madalla on Abuja's outskirts during a packed Christmas mass was the deadliest of a series of Christmas attacks on Nigerian churches and other targets by the militant Islamist sect Boko Haram. "As of just now, the latest death toll from the bombing of St. Theresa's church is at 37. Wounded, we have 57," a senior NEMA official said. The initial death toll had been 27. The official asked not to be identified because the victims were now in the hands of hospitals and morgues. President Goodluck Jonathan's office put out a statement late on Friday pledging that "the government will fight Boko Haram, the group of evil-minded people who want to cause anarchy, to the end". Jonathan held talks on Friday with Mohame Bazoum, Deputy Prime Minister of Niger. Security officials suspect the countries' porous common border is a gathering point for militants, and that Boko Haram may have made contact there with al Qaeda's north African wing. "The perpetrators pass through borders at will and we have to ensure that there are no safe havens for them in the sub-region," Jonathan said. He had summoned his security chiefs for an emergency meeting on Thursday to discuss the growing Islamist militant threat and how to deal with it. National Security Adviser General Owoye Andrew Azazi told Reuters that Nigerian security services were considering making contact with moderate members of Boko Haram via "back channels", even though explicit talks are officially ruled out. EXPLOSIONS, SHOOTINGS IN NORTHEAST This year was the second in a row that Boko Haram has attacked churches at Christmas. Its strikes are becoming deadlier and more sophisticated, and suggest that it is trying to ignite sectarian strife in a country historically prone to conflicts between a largely Muslim north and Christian south. Three explosions struck the northeastern city of Maiduguri shortly after Muslim Friday prayers, but caused no casualties, the military said. In a separate incident, gunmen shot dead three members of a cleric's family. Boko Haram, whose name means "Western education is sinful" in the northern Hausa language, has been blamed for a campaign of shootings and bombings against security forces and authorities in the north. Attacks in and around the capital - including one on the U.N. headquarters in August that killed at least 24 people - suggest the group is trying to raise its profile and radiate out from its heartland in the northeast. On Tuesday night, unidentified attackers threw a homemade bomb into an Islamic school in the southern Delta state, an apparent sectarian reprisal that wounded seven people, six of them young children. On Wednesday night, an explosion in a local bar in the northern city of Gombe wounded one person, police said. (Reporting by Tim Cocks; Editing by xxx) ==================== At least 120 killed in northern Nigeria attacks: Red Cross English.news.cn 2012-01-22 00:16:53 KANO, Nigeria Jan. 21 (Xinhua) -- The death toll from Friday's coordinated attacks in northern Nigeria's Kano State has risen to 120, a competent source with the Red Cross told Xinhua on Saturday. According to the Red Cross official, the figure was recorded from the affected areas, noting that 52 persons were injured. State secretary for the organization Musa Abdulahi told Xinhua on phone that they picked corpses around the affected areas. The northwest cordinator for the National Emergency Management Agency ( NEMA) responsible for disaster and emergency management in Nigeria Musa told Xinhua that it is working with some government agencies to collate the actual casualty figure. "We moved round the streets of Kano and picked several bodies and moved them to hospitals around the state," he said. Corpse were taken to the Murtala General Hospital and the Aminu Kano Specialist Hospital, Musa added. Meanwhile, hundreds of Nigerian troops have been deployed to major streets in northern Kano to enhance security following the multiple explosions in the city on Friday. The state government on Friday imposed 24-hour curfew on the state as part of measures to forestall further attacks. Armed soldiers had also been drafted to some strategic public and private buildings in the metropolis to prevent possible attacks. The soldiers were on alert in their vehicles patrolling the major streets of the metropolis in readiness for any eventuality. A Xinhua reporter in the state said security had also been tightened around the government House area as motorists coming to the area were being subjected to thorough checks. All the major roads in Kano have been deserted while residents have remained indoors in compliance with the curfew, he added. Spokesperson for the Boko Haram troops Abul Qaqa told reporters that the attacks were in response to the refusal of the Kano state government to release some fellow terrorists arrested in the state. He said they were forced to resort to the attacks after an open letter sent in 2011 to prominent people in the state were ignored. Several persons were feared dead and many others sustained serious injuries following coordinated attacks on police and other security agency formations in Kano on Friday. The attacks are believed to be the handiwork of members of the dreaded Boko Haram sect. Places affected include Zone A Headquarters of the Nigeria Police, as well as Yar'akwa, Sharada and Farm Center Police divisions in Kano metropolis. Zonal police spokesperson Aminu Gusau told reporters that a similar attack was carried out at the state command of the State Security Service (SSS) and the passport office of the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS). At the police office, a suicide bomber crashed a car into the premises and detonated the bomb. The suicide bomber died instantly. According to the Police Public Relations Officer, two policemen also died in the attack. However, at the SSS office when another suicide bomber entered the gate, operatives on duty opened fire on him before he detonated the bomb and he also died on the spot. Series of explosions were heard near the state police command more than two hour after the initial coordinated attacks. The explosions took place simultaneously in all the affected places. Editor: Mu Xuequan =============================