The Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria, CBCN, yesterday February 26, 2012 began an emergency meeting in the capital, Abuja, to discuss ongoing terrorist attacks in the country by the Boko Haram Islamic sect. THISDAY newspaper reported that the emergency meeting was also to discuss crucial national issues like incessant calls for the holding of a Sovereign National Conference, SNC and other burning recent happenings in the country.
According to the paper, the meeting came amid verbal exchanges between the umbrella Christian organization in the country, the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, and the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, SCIA, over incessant bomb attacks on churches in the northern part of the country. A CBCN source told THISDAY that Catholic Christians had suffered repeated Boko Haram attacks.
Also, yesterday, a suicide bomber rammed his car into a church in the central city of Jos, killing at least three worshippers, the BBC reported. The attack took place during an early morning service.
Meanwhile, suspected Boko Haram militants in a weekend attack on a police station in Gombe, capital of the north eastern Gombe State, killed 14 people after razing the station to the ground. According to THISDAY, the attack that took place on February 25, 2012 left ten people inside the burnt police station dead while four others were found in a burnt car outside. Following the attack, the State Government immediately declared a 24-hour curfew in Gombe. A local radio reported that after destroying the police station in a gun and bomb attack, the suspected militants tried to break into a nearby prison to release their detained colleagues but were overpowered.
In a related development, the government has raised an alarm over the infiltration of Islamic schools and centres across the country by Boko Haram members. Quoting the Permanent Secretary, Special Services Office, Office of the Secretary to the Government, Esther Gonda, the Nigerian Tribune said she warned that the indoctrination of pupils in their formative ages could confuse them as to the practice of true religion and thus provide Boko Haram with a ready support base.
Boko Haram launched an uprising in 2009 that was put down by the military, leaving some 800 people dead. After lying dormant for about a year, the group has re-emerged with a series of shootings and bomb attacks that human rights groups say have killed more than 935 people.
