– Retaliatory Attacks Staged, Discouraged by Local Priest
A car bomber detonated his explosives on Sunday outside a church in this central Nigerian city, and gunmen attacked another church in the nation’s northeast, killing at least four people and wounding dozens in the latest attacks against Christian worshipers, officials and witnesses said.
While no group immediately claimed responsibility for the attacks in Jos and Biu, a city in the northeastern state of Borno, they bore the hallmarks of assaults by a radical Islamic sect known as Boko Haram, which continue unabated despite a heavy military presence in the region.
In Jos, the bomber drove toward the compound of the Evangelical Church Winning All chapel and detonated his explosives nearby, said Abu Emmanuel, a spokesman for Plateau State police. The shock wave from the blast collapsed a portion of the building, causing injuries inside, Mr. Emmanuel said.
Angry youths later surrounded the area, striking back against Muslims in retaliatory violence, witnesses said. Four people and the bomber were killed, while more than 40 were wounded, Mr. Emmanuel said.
In Biu, Borno State, gunmen opened fire on a Sunday service at a church, witnesses said. An usher and another worshiper were killed and others were wounded, according to a military spokesman, Col. Victor Ebhaleme.
The Borno State police commissioner, Bala Hassan, confirmed the attack and said officers were investigating.
Churches across the country now receive additional military and police protection.