Endnu et angreb har ramt en kirke i Nigeria og rasende kristne unge går til modangreb – islamister i Boko Haram frygtes at stå bag angrebet.
A suicide car bomber has killed at least three people at a church in the troubled central Nigerian city of Jos, BBC online reports Sunday.
The suicide bomber drove his car into the prominent Church of Christ during morning prayers.
The attack sparked a riot by Christian youths. The two men were dragged off their bikes after being stopped at a roadblock set up by the rioters an beaten to death, police said.
Earlier, the suicide bomber smashed his car through unmanned gates towards the packed church, killing a woman in the process, witnesses said.
The explosives detonated close to where members of the congregation were attending a Sunday service, killing a father and his child. At least 38 people had to be taken to hospital for treatment.
Ethnic and religious tensions run high in Jos, the capital of Plateau state. Hundreds of people have died in bouts of sectarian clashes over the last few years.
But Christian human rights activists suspect Boko Haram of carrying out Sunday’s attack, which they say is the deadliest on a church in Jos.
Boko Haram has admitted attacking several churches across the country on Christmas Day 2011, killing nearly 40 people at one church outside the capital, Abuja, alone.
It has also claimed responsibility for a string of bomb blasts around Jos on Christmas Eve 2010 that killed at least 80 people.
Tilføjelse U-landsnyt.dk:
Jos med godt en million indbyggere er et trafikalt knudepunkt og handelscenter midt i Nigeria. Byen ligger i brudfladen mellem den muslimsk dominerede nordlige del af Vestafrikas store toneangivende land og den kristent dominerede sydlige del.
Befolkningen i Jos er da også sammensat af både muslimer og kristne, som i lange perioder har levet forholdsvist fredeligt side om side. Alligevel er der flere gange siden 2001 ubrudt blodige voldelige uroligheder mellem de to grupper.
Jos ligger i en region, hvor mange kristne missionsselskaber er aktive, herunder danske “Mission Afrika” (tidl. Sudanmissionen) – se også http://www.missionafrika.dk/mission/internationale-partnere/nigeria
I Jos samarbejder Mission Afrika med “Serving in Mission” (SIM) om støtte til et børnehjem, som giver mad og husly til 240 gadebørn.
Børnehjemmet hjælper også forstødte “heksebørn”, som på grund af overtro beskyldes for at være hekse og årsag til dødsfald omkring sig.
Henved halvdelen af Nigerias anslået 170 millioner indbyggere (2012) er muslimer, 40 procent kristne og resten animister, dvs åndedyrkere.
