Bombing of Churches in Nigeria Intensifies

​Suicide Bombings
Three more churches in Northern Nigeria were attacked by suicide bombers on Sunday, 17 June. The churches were attacked in Kaduna state, which lies on the dividing line between the Muslim North and Christian South of Nigeria. 

The Evangelical Church of West Africa (ECWA) in Wusasa, the Cathedral of Christ the King in Zaria, and Shalom Church in Trikania, were hit simultaneously in co-ordinated suicide bombing attacks during Sunday morning services on 17 June. This was the third Sunday in a row that churches in Nigeria have been bombed. A Pentecostal church in Plateau state was bombed on 10 June, killing 2 and injuring over 40 Christians. The attack on Christ's Chosen Church of God was the second bombing of a church in Jos in one week. In Borno state, 2 Christians were killed as gunmen shot up a service.

Wounded Worshipers
Dr. Taylor Adeyemi at St. Luke's Hospital, reported that he received 40 victims of the bomb blast at ECWA. Most of the victims were children. 3 were dead on arrival. Reportedly 10 church-goers were killed in the bomb blast at the Cathedral of Christ the King in Trikania, and more than 50 injured. Eye-witness reports from the ECWA church in Wusasa, said that a suicide bomber forced his way past the security guard at the gate to detonate the bomb in front of the Evangelical entrance.

Death Toll Mounts
At least 23 people are reported to have been killed in the multiple bombing attacks on the 3 churches in Kaduna state, Sunday 17 June. While no group has yet claimed responsibility for these attacks, Boko Haram, whose terror campaign against churches have killed more than 1,000 Christians in attacks during the last 2 years, has normally claimed responsibility for suicide bombing attacks on churches in Northern Nigeria. More than 150 people have been treated in hospital nearby for wounds from the bomb blasts.

Curfew
As Christian youths retaliated by burning a Mosque in Kaduna, the state government imposed a dawn to dusk curfew and mobilised security forces in areas where Christians were threatening to retaliate to the escalating Islamic campaign of bombing Christian churches.

See also:
The Church Under Attack in Nigeria
Pray for Christians Under Fire in Nigeria, Sudan and Tunisia
What is Behind the Jihad in Nigeria

An Urgent Call for Prayer and Action
Please join in with us in fervent prayer that the sufferings of our Christian brethren become known to the whole world, that the persecutors be exposed, and opposed and that peace – with justice be firmly established.

"Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves…" Proverbs 31:8

Obtain and promote: Slavery, Terrorism and Islam – The Historical Roots and Contemporary Threat (300 pages, 200 pictures) available from Christian Liberty Books, PO Box 358, Howard Place 7450, Cape Town, South Africa, tel: 021-689-7478, email: admin@christianlibertybooks.co.za and website: www.christianlibertybooks.co.za.

Those in North America can obtain this book and other resources for the persecuted from: Frontline Fellowship - USA, P.O. Box 728, Manitou Springs, CO 80829, USA, tel: 719-685-2899, email: info@frontlinefellowship.net, website: www.frontlinefellowship.net.

"Who will rise up for Me against the evildoers? Who will stand up for Me against the workers of iniquity?" Psalm 94:16

Dr. Peter Hammond

Frontline Fellowship
P.O. Box 74 Newlands 7725
Cape Town South Africa
Tel: 021-689-4480
Fax: 021-685-5884
Email: mission@frontline.org.za