BLOOD-THIRSTY, mass-murdering terrorists in Nigeria have continued their orgy of mindless violence over the weekend, killing almost 50 innocent citizens in cities like the metropolis of Kaduna, Maiduguri and the ever-restive city of Jos.
The biggest of the attacks was in northern city of Kaduna, in Kaduna State, where a massive blast from an automobile rigged with explosives left a crater in the middle of a roadway and killed at least 38 people. The blast occurred a short distance away from two local churches. Precautionary steps recently adopted by Christians have ensured that vehicles are parked away from church premises.
According to officials, several commercial motorcycle riders who plied the routes around the explosion were among the victims of the deadly attack. A number of them who were injured were rushed to hospitals within the city.
In the city of Potiskum, gunmen opened fire on a policeman and his family, killing the policeman’s 7-year-old daughter, the Police Public Relations officer of the Yobe State command, Toyin Gbadegeshin said.
“They fired shots at him while sitting in the midst of his family. He managed to avoid the bullets and scaled over the fence,” Mr Gbadigisin said.
“The gunmen shot dead his seven-year-old-daughter and seriously injured another 12-year-old daughter and a 10-year-old-son who are now in hospital.”
The police spokesman blamed local terrorists popularly known as Boko Haram, the same group responsible for the deaths of hundreds of Nigerians this year alone, for the attack.
Early on Monday, gunmen killed three people when they attacked a police station, a church and a bank in the border town of Dikwa in Borno state.
The Spokesman for the Joint Security Task Force (JTF), Lt. Col. Sagir Musa said a local politician, a police officer and civilian and three gunmen were killed in the attack which occurred at about 1.30am on Monday morning.
The Army spokesman blamed the attack on members of the Boko Haram sect.
“Three Boko Haram terrorists were killed and many escaped with bullet wounds,” he said.
While no one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, suspicion immediately fell on the murderous Islamic sect. Some fear the attack could further inflame tensions around Kaduna, a region on the dividing line between Nigeria’s largely Christian south and Muslim north.
Also on Sunday, officials of the National Emergency Management Agency told newsmen that another deadly explosion occurred in the Tundun Wada district of Jos. According to the officials, emergency personnel moved in and evacuated the victims for medical attention.
The brutal attacks on innocent citizens who are mainly Christians have begun to draw the ire of external observers everywhere from the Vatican to a usually reserved Canadian government, whose Foreign Affairs Minister, Mr. John Baird, condemned what he called a ‘cowardly’ Easter .
“Our thoughts and prayers are with those affected by these cowardly acts,” Baird said in a statement on Sunday.
“We are saddened that, on this Easter Sunday, Nigerian Christians are being denied their fundamental human right to practice their beliefs without threat to their safety,” Baird said.
“Canada urges all people in Nigeria to work with the government in bringing an end to hateful and divisive attitudes, and in bringing those responsible for these terrible attacks to justice.”
Kaduna sits close to the dividing line and was a nucleus of post-election violence last year which killed about 800 people.
The pope also condemned what he called “savage terrorist attacks” against Christian churches in Nigeria in his Easter message on Sunday.