Abuja (dpa) – Nigerian civil society groups took to the streets on Monday, demanding the government find solutions to the country's worsening security problems, following Christmas day attacks on churches which left 40 people dead. A militant Islamist group known as Boko Haram has claimed the attacks, but it was difficult to verify the account of the shadowy sect. A spokesman purporting to represent the group told local media the blasts were meant to be both retribution for deaths of its members at the hands of state security forces and revenge for the killings of Muslims earlier this year in religious clashes. “It is about time for the government to find a lasting solution to this crisis before it consumes all of us,” said Mike Agbo, who was leading a Christian group in a peaceful protest march in Abuja. “An urgent security summit, which will include religious and (popular) opinion leaders, as well as security chiefs, should be convened to address the crisis,” Agbo demanded. “What we are facing today, this has gone beyond religious and ethnicity clashes,” said Nneka Ejiofor, also protesting the church attacks. “Even the Islamic extremists are killing their fellow brothers, it has become an attack on our freedom and happiness irrespective of (the) religious divide,” Ejiofor added. Not all protests so far have been entirely peaceful. On Sunday afternoon, Christian demonstrators had burned tires on a road near Abuja leading to Muslim areas. Nigeria is Africa's most populous nation, with 160 million citizens, divided between a mostly-Muslim north and a predominately Christian south. Despite vast oil wealth, corruption and mismanagement have left many Nigerians mired in deep poverty. Religious and ethnic tensions have been rising in recent years, with hundreds dying in clashes. Last Christmas, dozens were killed in attacks on Christians, while Muslims have also died in violence during Islamic festivals. The most significant blast this holiday was an explosion outside the St Theresa Catholic Church in Madalla, a town about 20 kilometers west of the capital Abuja, which killed 35 people just as Christmas services were ending on Sunday morning. The massive explosion, which might have been caused by a car bomb, destroyed much of the church building and nearby structures and left a large crater in the asphalt street. An attack on the Mountain of Fire and Miracles Church in the central Jos region took place shortly after, injuring several people and killing a policemen. Two more attacks followed in the volatile north-east, killing four people. One of the attacks was on a church in Gadaka, in Yobe state. Yobe and other parts of the north-east saw heavy clashes last week between Boko Haram and Nigerian security forces. Up to 100 people may have died in fighting last week, including dozens of Boko Haram members, civilians and policemen, according to human rights groups. The military has been criticized in the past for using heavy-handed tactics to fight Boko Haram, whose name in the local Hausa language can translate as “Western education is prohibited.” Some analysts believe the use of force has been counterproductive. Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan has vowed to bring perpetrators of Sunday's blasts to justice. However, his remarks that frequent bomb blasts are “a burden … Nigerians must live with” sparked criticism, with commentators saying his administration was weak and too slow to respond. Nigerian regional officials were critical that foreign leaders were quicker to condemn the massacres than Jonathan, whose office remained silent for several hours following the attacks. General Muhammadu Buhari, a former military leader of Nigeria who ran against Jonathan in April's presidential vote, spoke out against the government's “mute indifference.” A letter emailed to newspapers and television networks, signed by a children's rights group, asked, “Mr President, Boko Haram defeated you in 2011. What plans are you making for 2012?” Meanwhile, condemnation has been pouring in from global leaders. The White House called the blasts “senseless violence” and pledged to help Nigeria bring the perpetrators to justice. Several European nations also slammed the attacks. The Vatican said the attacks on the Catholic congregations were acts of “blind hatred” meant to cause more tensions. Boko Haram's exact intentions for Nigeria remain vague, but the group appears intent on imposing strict Islamic law on the mostly-Muslim north, and has said it wants to make the country ungovernable for Jonathan, a Christian from the south. Efforts by the government to negotiate with Boko Haram have so far yielded little progress. Abuja resembled a ghost town on Monday, with few cars on the roads. Popular tourist sites, children's park and restaurants have been deserted for fear of more attacks. Churches too were forced to maintain a low profile, amid concerns they could be targets. BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/dq2vp Tags: Boko Haram, Bomb, Christmas, Nigeria, Protests Section: Latest News, West Africa
