NIGERIA lacks competent leaders to tackle its security problems, a former military ruler said yesterday, after Christmas Day bomb attacks on churches by Islamist militants that killed more than two dozen people.

Terror attacks across Nigeria by a radical Muslim sect killed at least 39 people – the majority dying on the steps of a church after celebrating Christmas Mass as blood pooled in dust from a massive explosion.

At least 25 people were killed today when an explosion ripped through a Catholic church during Christmas Mass near Nigeria’s capital.

At least 25 people were killed today when an explosion ripped through a Catholic church during Christmas Mass near Nigeria’s capital city.

A RADICAL Muslim sect responsible for attacks that left more than 100 people dead in north-east Nigeria at the weekend could bomb three luxury hotels frequented by foreigners in oil-rich nation’s capital, the US Embassy warned yesterday.

An attack by a radical Muslim sect which killed at least 69 people in north-east Nigeria has been condemned by the United Nations.

At least 67 people died in a wave of bombings and shootings carried out in north-east Nigeria overnight, officials said today, as frightened mourners left their homes to begin burying their dead.

At least 19 people have died in a series of bombings and shootings in north-east Nigeria, witnesses said.

TROOPS struggled to crush an Islamic sect in northern Nigeria yesterday as the death toll from four days of clashes surged past 300 and thousands of people were forced from their homes.