NIGERIA: Islamist group Boko Haram has been targeting churches this year and faces a military crackdown in the north

Record ID: 235777

  • Title: NIGERIA: Islamist group Boko Haram has been targeting churches this year and faces a military crackdown in the north
  • Date: 24th September 2012
  • Summary: BAUCHI, NIGERIA (SEPTEMBER 23, 2012) (ORIGINALLY 4:3) (REUTERS) CROWDS GATHERED OUTSIDE CHURCH VARIOUS OF WRECKAGE OF CAR PEOPLE GATHERED AROUND CAR WRECKAGE DEBRIS IN STREET AND CROWDS LINING PAVEMENT CAR WRECKAGE (SOUNDBITE) (English) UNNAMED WITNESS, SAYING: "As we finished the service I was crossing, immediately I crossed this side. I see a vehicle just close to this side, I was thinking it's a security car. Immediately I just reached here, I heard boom, there is something goes past my body like this. I shouted, 'Jesus help me'." CROWDS ON STREET SIGN FOR THE EVANGELIST CATHOLIC CHURCH OF BAUCHI
  • Embargoed: 9th October 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Nigeria
  • Country: Nigeria
  • Topics: Crime
  • Reuters ID: LVA6IGN970T5BI5LGF7SQF2OIR4E
  • Story Text: A suicide car bomber blew himself up outside a Catholic church in northern Nigeria on Sunday (September 23), killing himself and at least two other people and wounding 46, police said.
    Police cordoned off the area around St. John's church after the blast, which caused minimal damage to the building but killed at least two people in a market area of Bauchi city.
    A Reuters journalist saw emergency services bring out three bodies in the area, called Wunti, and police identified one as the occupant of the car that blew up.
    Several wounded were being taken out on stretchers.
    "As we finished the service I was crossing, immediately I crossed this side. I see a vehicle just close to this side, I was thinking it's a security car. Immediately I just reached here, I heard boom, there is something goes past my body like this. I shouted, 'Jesus help me'," an unnamed witness told Reuters.
    Bauchi police spokesman Hassan Mohammed said the bomber, plus a woman and a child were killed, and 46 other people got various injuries, including two policemen protecting the church.
    He added that it would have been a worse had the bomber managed to enter the building.
    National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) spokesman Yushua Shuaib also confirmed the death toll, and said that of the injured some 22 were receiving treatment in hospital.
    There was no immediate claim of responsibility. Islamist sect Boko Haram has claimed several attacks on churches and other Christian gatherings this year, part of wider efforts to destabilise President Goodluck Jonathan's government.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2012. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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