Church bombs subdue Nigerian Christian worship

Abuja, 25 Jun – (ANA) - Some churches in northern Nigeria, usually packed with worshippers,  Sunday mornings now show a low turn-out as many  stayed away following a week of violence in Kaduna state, media reports say. At least 92 people were killed in tit-for-tat attacks between Muslims and Christians in Kaduna last week, following suicide bombs in three churches. The Islamist sect Boko Haram has been blamed for the attacks. Similar violence in the past has usually failed to spark sustained conflict in a nation whose President Goodluck Jonathan, a Christian from the southern oil-producing region, has been criticised for not stemming the flow of violence in the north, a region his opponents say he is out of touch with. Jonathan traveled to Brazil for a sustainability summit at the height of the violence in Kaduna last week, drawing anger from many Nigerians. He has since sacked his defence minister and national security adviser, a move foreign diplomats said was long overdue. Jonathan said he sacked his defence minister and national security adviser  because the government needed new anti-terrorism tactics. Boko Haram is fighting to carve out an Islamic state in Nigeria - a country nearly evenly split between Muslims and Christians. Attacks on churches have intensified this month, sparking deadly religious violence in northern Kaduna state. (ANA)

FA/ANA/25 June 2012----------