Nigerian Christians fear ‘holy war’

NORTHERN Nigerian Christians said yesterday they feared that a spate of Christmas Day bombings by Islamist militants that killed over two dozen people could lead to a religious war in Africa’s most populous country.

The warning was made by the northern branch of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), an umbrella organisation comprising various denominations including Catholic and Protestant churches.

But a powerful Muslim traditional ruler, the Sultan of Sokoto Muhammadu Sa’ad Abubakar, said after meeting the Nigerian president yesterday it was not a conflict between Muslims and Christians or between Islam and Christianity.

The Boko Haram Islamist sect, which aims to impose Sharia law across Nigeria, claimed responsibility for the blasts, the second Christmas in a row it has caused carnage.

Saidu Dogo, secretary general for the CAN in Nigeria’s 19 northern provinces, called on Muslim leaders to control their faithful, saying Christians will be forced to defend themselves against further attacks.

“We fear that the situation may degenerate to a religious war and Nigeria may not be able to survive one. Once again, ‘enough is enough!’,” Dogo said.

The attacks risk reviving tit-for-tat sectarian violence between the mostly Muslim north and the largely Christian south, which has claimed thousands of lives in the past decade.

Dogo said the CAN was calling on all Christians to continue respecting the law but to defend themselves when needed.

“We shall henceforth in the midst of these provocations and wanton destruction of innocent lives and property be compelled to make our own efforts and arrangements to protect the lives of innocent Christians and peace-loving citizens of this country,” he said.

The most deadly attack killed at least 27 people in the St Theresa Catholic church in Madalla, a town on the edge of the capital Abuja, and devastated surrounding buildings and cars as faithful poured out of the church after Christmas mass.

Security forces also blamed Boko Haram for two explosions in the north targeting their facilities.

Officials confirmed 32 people died in the attacks, though local media have put the number higher.