Nigeria: Growing Mistrust After Attacks
By MISNA
“There is a growing sensation of impotence”, said to MISNA Monsignor Mathew Ndagoso, Archbishop of Kaduna, a day after an attack against a church on a military base. The media also reported an attack against a police station in Abuja.
“An attack on a military base inevitably causes distrust among the armed forces, who have the duty of defending the population from terrorists”, added Monsignor Ndagoso.
A bus and a car rigged with explosives blew up minutes apart yesterday outside the Protestant church during mass on a base near the city of Jaji, in the northern State of Kaduna, leaving 11 dead and some thirty wounded. A small crowd of people had gathered in the area at the time of the blasts.
The attack in Abuja occurred in the early hours this morning in the city center. According to the online Daily Trust news service, gunmen attacked the Police Special Anti-Robbery Squad facility. The report also indicates that unconfirmed sources claim a number of detainees were released during the attack. The facility is one of the places Boko Haram suspects are normally held when transferred to Abuja.
No group has so far claimed the attacks in Abuja or Jaji. The Nigerian media indicates Boko Haram, an Islamic group that gains its strength from wide unemployment and poverty, especially in northern Nigeria.
“A few months ago, actual President Goodluck Jonathan said that the Boko Haram were able to infiltrate in institutions and security bodies”, reminded the Archbishop of Kaduna.
