Eyewitnesses said that a lone car bomber approached the church gate hoping to quietly drive into the church before exploding the bomb but the security men at the gate refused him entry.
“There was a loud explosion and I could see smoke on the horizon,” one resident said, adding there were claims of clashes breaking out between Christians and Muslims afterward.
The bomber then reversed his car and rammed it forcefully against the gate of the church, the gate caved in as the bomb exploded injuring several churchgoers.
Nigerian troops have cordoned off the area while the police and Kaduna state government officials are calming down christian residents in the area to avoid religious confrontations that typically follows such attack in the state.
Boko Haram’s insurgency in northern and central Nigeria has led to more than 2,800 deaths since 2009. While Muslims have often been its victims, it has in recent months specifically targeted churches.
President Goodluck Jonathan has said the group is seeking to incite a religious crisis in Africa’s most populous nation and largest oil producer, roughly divided between a mainly Muslim north and predominately Christian south.
Kaduna is a large city in the north and with a sizable Christian population.
Nigerians have grown increasingly frustrated with security forces’ inability to stop Boko Haram attacks, and there have been warnings of more reprisals if the violence continued.
Nigerians have grown increasingly frustrated with security forces’ inability to stop Boko Haram attacks, and there have been warnings of more reprisals if the violence continued.
Some Evangelical church leaders have said Christians may be forced to defend themselves if something is not done to address the violence.
OUTRAGEOUS!! NIGERIA WHEN WOULD THIS STOP! AHHH
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