At least 50 killed in Nigerian violence

A radical Islamist sect claimed responsibility for Sunday’s suicide attacks at two churches in the city of Zaria and another in Kaduna that left 21 people dead, according to an initial count.

The reprisals highlight festering religious tensions in Nigeria, a nation of more than 160 million people. The attacks occurred in the religious flashpoint state of Kaduna that sits at the border between the country’s predominantly Muslim north and its mainly Christian south.

Officials initially said 21 people were killed in Sunday morning’s blasts. But the Nigerian Red Cross said later that the death toll was 50 when reprisal killings were included. Officials refused to give a breakdown clarifying who died in the initial blasts and who was killed later.

Andronicus Adeyemo, deputy head of disaster management at the Nigerian Red Cross, said: “Those figures are sensitive.”

Authorities feared a breakdown of the deaths would trigger revenge killings. Most of the victims killed in church on Sunday were presumed to be Christian and most of those killed in reprisals were presumed to be Muslim.

In Kaduna, relief officials said they were still collecting bodies on yesterday. Most victims were petty traders and transport workers such as bus drivers and motorcycle taxi drivers, who are presumed to be Muslim and who commute daily to the predominantly Christian southern part of the city.

The group known as Boko Haram said it was responsible for the attacks on churches.

“Allah has given us victory in the attacks we launched (Sunday) against churches in Kaduna and Zaria towns which resulted in the deaths of many Christians and security personnel,” it said.

Boko Haram, whose name means “Western education is sacrilege” is waging an increasingly bloody fight with Nigeria’s security agencies and public. More than 580 people have been killed in violence blamed on the sect this year alone.