Church attacks claim five lives in Nigeria

At least five people were killed and 48 others wounded on Sunday 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.

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 died immediately.

In another attack, gunmen fired at people outside a church before going into the main building, wounding many people in Maiduguri town.