Nigeria: six Christians killed in the church,
the priest also died

KANO – A group of armed men attacked a church in northern Nigeria shortly after midnight last night, Christmas Eve, killing six people including the priest. Then set the building on fire. “Still Christian blood in Nigeria. Unacceptable horror. International commitment to protect religious minorities is maximum”, commented Foreign Minister Giulio Terzi Twitter.

“A group of armed men arrived in the village at midnight and headed for the church. Inside, the men started shooting by killing the priest and five faithfuls. Then they set fire to the church,” said Usman Mansir, a resident of village of Peri, near Potiskum, economic capital of the state of Yobe. The police chief of Yobe, Sanusi Rufa, confirmed the story without adding other details “due to a security issue”, and because the attack on the Peri church has not yet been claimed. Suspicions fall on the Islamist group Boko Haram, a subsidiary of Al Qaeda.

The population of the State of Yobe is mostly Muslim, with an important Christian minority at Potiskum, the village of Peri attacked tonight is only six kilometers from the city center. In the guerrilla war between the police and the Boko Haram group, at least three thousand men and women have died since 2009 alone. Last May, 60 people were killed by armed men at the Potiskun cattle market. The massacre of the market caused violent protests by the citizens who demonstrated under a church in the city for five days, in the last of which a fire was also set on this building.

During the traditional Christmas message to the faithful in St. Peter’s Square, so that “the Christmas of Christ favors the return of peace in Mali and concord in Nigeria, where heinous terrorist attacks continue to claim victims, particularly among Christians”. The Pontiff also addressed the Congo and Kenya: “The Redeemer brings aid and comfort to the refugees from the East of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and gives peace to Kenya, where bloody attacks have hit the civilian population and places of worship”.
(December 25, 2012)