Bloodbath In Kaduna: 60 Killed, 200 Wounded …Govt Imposes Curfew

Three suicide bomb attacks on churches rocked Kaduna State yesterday, killing at least, 21 people and wounding about 100, officials said.

The attacks triggered retaliatory actions by Christian youths who dragged Muslims from their cars and killed them, officials and witnesses said.

The reprisal attacks left over 39 dead and more than 105 injured, The Tide learnt.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the bombings but Islamist group Boko Haram has often attacked church services in Nigeria.

“The violence stoked fears of wider sectarian conflict in Nigeria”, a  member of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and Africa’s top oil producer said while the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in Kano, called the bombings “a clear invitation to religious war”.

The first two blasts occurred within minutes of each other and targeted two churches in the city of Zaria, said Kaduna State Police Commissioner, Mohammed Abubakar Jinjiri.

Three churches were attacked this morning by suicide bombers in Kaduna. One went off at the Evangelical Church of West Africa (ECWA) church, Wusasa and another at the Christ the King Cathedral Catholic Church at No. 80, Yoruba Street, Sabon Gari, Zaria, just behind the Army Depot, Zaria where all Nigerian soldiers receive their basic training.

The third church, Shalom Church at Trikania close to Abuja Flyover and Textile Labour House, was hit by multiple explosions around 10:17am.

Our correspondent  reports that the explosions occurred at ECWA Church, Wusasa, and CKC Church at Yoruba Road, Sabon-Gari, Zaria.

An eyewitness at CKC Church, Malam Bala Mati, said that the suspected suicide bombers rammed into the church premises in a ‘Golf IV’’ vehicle, defying orders by security officials at the gate to stop for a check.

He said that he saw about 13 bodies after the explosion.

At Wusasa, another eyewitness, Mr Johnson Maki, told newsmen that the bombers came in a Honda Accord (2008 model), hitting the security posts and knocking down the part of the church building.

Mr Lawal Umar, the Divisional Secretary of the Red Cross in Zaria, said that not less than 30 persons sustained varying degree of injuries in the suicide attack.

He said that nine injured persons were taken to St. Lukes Hospital, Wusasa, for treatment, while nine others were ferried to Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital in the Shika neighbourhood of Zaria.

Also speaking, Alhaji Umar Ibrahim-Rabagaddama, the Chairman, Interim Management Committee of Zaria Local Government Council, told newsmen that one person died in the Wusasa explosion, while 45 people sustained injuries.

He, however, appealed to the people to remain calm and avoid spreading unnecessary rumours about the incident.

DSP Aminu Lawan, the Police Public Relations Officer in the Kaduna State Command, also confirmed the explosions, saying that policemen had been deployed to the areas.

A third blast hit a church in the city of Kaduna about half an hour later, Jinjiri said.

The second suicide car bombing was at Kings Catholic Church, killing 10 people, said Bishop of Zaria George Dogo, who was giving a service in the church when it was attacked. He corroborated Reverend Nathan Waziri’s earlier comment, confirming the death toll in the blasts.

Suicide bombers in a Toyota saloon then hit Shalom Church in Kaduna, killing six people. The military said the dead included an army sergeant.

Manan Janet, who was in the church, said she saw six bodies. “It was terrible. I’m traumatised,” she said.

Musa Ilela, an official from the National Emergency Management Agency in Kaduna State, said the death toll had risen to nearly 60.

“The injured and dead have been moved to the hospitals,” he said.

After the bombings, Christian youths blocked the highway leading to the southern end of Kaduna to Abuja, pulling Muslims out of cars and killing them, witnesses said.

“We had to return home when we saw (the Christian youths) attacking. I saw many bodies on the ground, but I don’t know how many were dead or just injured,” said Kaduna resident, Rafael Gwaza.

Witness Haruna Isah said up to 20 people might have been killed in reprisals at the road-block. “There were bodies everywhere on the ground,” he said.

Kaduna State Governor, Patrick Yakowa called for calm.

“In view of the incidents and the need to have complete normalcy and to forestall a further break down of law and order, the state government has imposed a 24-hour curfew in the whole state,” a statement from his office said.

The Islamists’ leader, Abubakar Shekau says attacks on Christians are in revenge for killings of Muslims in Nigeria’s volatile “Middle Belt”, where the largely Christian south and mostly Muslim north meet.

Earlier in the day, Nigerian Red Cross official, Andronicus Adeyemo, said the Zaria attacks killed two, including the bomber, and left 51 wounded.

The Kaduna attack claimed 10 more lives, he said, and wounded 29 people.

Jinjiri said security at the three churches prevented the suicide bombers from ramming explosive-laden cars into the buildings filled with worshippers.

Dr. Taylor Adeyemi, the acting Chief Medical Director of St. Luke’s hospital in Wusasa told our reporter that many victims, mostly children were brought into the hospital following the blasts.

Police arrested one of the bombers who survived, and Jinjiri declined to say who police suspected might be responsible.

More than 560 people have been killed in violence blamed on the Boko Haram this year alone, according to available statistics.

The Nigerian Red Cross said young people had started protesting in Kaduna, leading the government to impose a 24-hour curfew in a state deeply divided along religious lines.

A scene at the suicide bombing in Kaduna churches, yesterday