Nigeria's Worst Christmas Ever

Yesterday while many of us were celebrating a peaceful Christmas, I learned of the terrorist attacks that took place in Nigeria. I have to admit that as I read the news, I wondered how many people had been praying for a peaceful Christmas for those in nations like Nigeria, where Christians come under attack on a daily basis.

I was was happy to see many people on Facebook bringing the attacks to their friends attention, and I prayed that the devastation wouldn't be as bad as we feared. Sadly…the devastation is more horrible than I first thought.

Yesterday the White House condemned the Nigeria terror attack:

The White House on Sunday issued a statement offering condolences to those affected by the coordinated terror attacks in Nigeria that left at least 39 people dead, with the majority dying on the steps of a Catholic church after celebrating Christmas mass.

“We condemn this senseless violence and tragic loss of life on Christmas Day. We offer our sincere condolences to the Nigerian people and especially those who lost family and loved ones. We have been in contact with Nigerian officials about what initially appear to be terrorist acts and pledge to assist them in bringing those responsible to justice,” White House said in a statement.

The first explosion on Sunday struck St. Theresa Catholic Church just after 8 a.m. The attack killed 35 people and wounded another 52, said Slaku Luguard, a coordinator with Nigeria’s National Emergency Management Agency.

Reuters is also reporting on the terrorist attacks today saying,

Muhammadu Buhari, a northerner and former military ruler who lost a presidential election in April to incumbent Goodluck Jonathan, a Christian southerner, told a Nigerian daily that the government was slow to respond and had shown indifference to the bombings.

The attacks, described by the country’s top broadsheet daily Thisday as “Nigeria’s blackest Christmas ever,” risk reopening old wounds and reviving tit-for-tat sectarian violence between the mostly Muslim north and largely Christian south, which has claimed thousands of lives in the past decade.

The Boko Haram Islamist sect, which aims to impose sharia, Islamic law, across Africa’s most populous country, claimed responsibility for three church bombings, the second Christmas in a row it has caused carnage at Christian houses of worship.

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, and devastated surrounding buildings and cars.

Security forces also blamed the sect for two explosions in the north targeting their facilities. Officials have confirmed 32 people died in the wave of attacks across Nigeria, though local media have put the number higher.

But the church bombs are more worrying because they raise fears that Boko Haram is trying to ignite a sectarian civil war in a country split evenly between Christians and Muslims, who for the most part co-exist in peace.

Additional coverage of the deadly attacks can be read at the following links. As always, please pray for Christians in Nigeria and also for those who are persecuting them.

Five Nigerian Churches Bombed Christmas Day

Nigerian Leaders Rapped After Islamic Attacks on Churches

Nigeria Vows to Bring Christmas Bombers to Justice