Two churches and a security checkpoint were attacked in Nigeria as President Goodluck Jonathan visited the country’s second-largest city Sunday, following the wave of Islamic extremist attacks last Friday that has left more than 150 people dead in Kano City.
The latest attacks came in the neighboring state of Bauchi, the state police commissioner said in a statement. At least 11 people, including police and army personnel, were killed in the checkpoint attack, the commissioner has reported, although no casualties have been reported from the church attacks.
President Jonathan visited numerous bomb sites in Kano City Sunday, as well as the local hospital to see victims and their families to offer his condolences and words of comfort.
The terror attacks by Islamic group Boko Haram hit eight separate sites and have devastated the local communities, resulting in a curfew being put in place between 7pm to 6am in the region.
President Jonathan posted this message on his official Facebook page following his Kano visit: “The message I had for the people of Kano is the same message I have for all Nigerians: A terrorist attack on one person is an attack on all of us.”
The wave of terror attacks has seen bombings as well as shootings at locations including police stations, the passport office, state security headquarters and the immigration office.
Over recent months the group has increasingly targeted government buildings as well as Christian churches and civilians in an array of attacks killing hundreds.
Nigeria has been suffering from religious violence for years, with attacks often occurring during the Christmas season. At least three dozen people were killed in a string of bombings last month. Since December, more than 80 Christians have been killed by radical Muslims, according to International Christian Concern (ICC), an advocacy group.
Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, Christian Association of Nigeria’s president, recently decried the Nigerian government’s failure to protect Christians from attacks and accused some security agents of taking sides.
“The security agencies are polarized along religious lines,” he said. “Even when the security agents have information (concerning security measures to be taken against Boko Haram), some of them pass the information to these criminals. This is because some of the security agents are more loyal to their religion (Islam) than to Nigeria as a nation.”
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