Abuja, Jun 10: At least five people were killed and 48 others wounded today when a suicide bomber blew up a car near a church levelling it in central Nigeria's Jos city, a flash point of religious clashes.
The bomber drove a car to the entrance of an evangelical Lord's Chosen Church and blew it up in Rukuba area of the Jos city, an eyewitnesses said.
“Four persons were killed and 41 others were wounded in the suicide attack,” police said.
According to the police, the bomber who is among the dead approached the church altar during worship before detonating the explosives strapped to his body.
State's Commissioner of Police Emmanuel Ayeni said the incident took place at Christ Chosen Charismatic church at the centre of the city.
He said the church collapsed after the altar was divided into two by the impact of the explosives. Two people, he said, died immediately.
In another attack, gunmen fired at people outside a church before going into the main building, wounding many people in northern Maiduguri town.
No group claimed responsibility for the attacks. However, Islamic fundamentalist group Boko Haram has claimed responsibility for such attacks in the past.
The group's insurgency has been growing in Nigeria and an attack in the northern city of Kano with multiple bombings and gun shots killed nearly 185 people early this year.
A suicide bomb attack by the group at the United Nations headquarters in Abuja in July last year killed 26 people.
The group has also bombed churches and attacked mosques making its motive somehow hazy. The group wants to reinstate Shariah law and an Islamic caliphate in Nigeria.
The 150-million Nigeria has both Muslim and Christian population, with Muslims predominant in the north while Christians mostly live in the South.
The bomber drove a car to the entrance of an evangelical Lord's Chosen Church and blew it up in Rukuba area of the Jos city, an eyewitnesses said.
“Four persons were killed and 41 others were wounded in the suicide attack,” police said.
According to the police, the bomber who is among the dead approached the church altar during worship before detonating the explosives strapped to his body.
State's Commissioner of Police Emmanuel Ayeni said the incident took place at Christ Chosen Charismatic church at the centre of the city.
He said the church collapsed after the altar was divided into two by the impact of the explosives. Two people, he said, died immediately.
In another attack, gunmen fired at people outside a church before going into the main building, wounding many people in northern Maiduguri town.
No group claimed responsibility for the attacks. However, Islamic fundamentalist group Boko Haram has claimed responsibility for such attacks in the past.
The group's insurgency has been growing in Nigeria and an attack in the northern city of Kano with multiple bombings and gun shots killed nearly 185 people early this year.
A suicide bomb attack by the group at the United Nations headquarters in Abuja in July last year killed 26 people.
The group has also bombed churches and attacked mosques making its motive somehow hazy. The group wants to reinstate Shariah law and an Islamic caliphate in Nigeria.
The 150-million Nigeria has both Muslim and Christian population, with Muslims predominant in the north while Christians mostly live in the South.
