AFRICA : NIGERIA : SECT BOMBS CATHOLIC CHURCH 10 KILLED

PM NEWS REPORT: Update – A bomb exploded outside of a Catholic church on the outskirts of the Nigerian capital Abuja during Christmas prayers Sunday and emergency services said they did not have enough ambulances available to evacuate all the dead and the wounded.

No fewer than 10 people have been confirmed dead. There were many injured.

“Yes, I can confirm to you that there has been a bomb blast in a church in Madala (suburb),” National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) spokesman Yushau Shuaibu said by telephone to Reuters.
“We are presently there, evacuating the dead and the injured, but unfortunately we don’t have enough ambulances. Most of our ambulances have gone to operate on the major highways of the country,” he added.
The blast in St Theresa’s Church in Madala, an Abuja suburb blew out windows of at least one house nearby, a witness said.
Madala falls into the capital’s neighbouring Niger State, where there had been several incidents of bombings in recent months.
No group has yet claimed responsibility for the blast. The Boko Haram sect, fighting for the Islamisation of Nigeria had claimed a series of bombings in recent months, including the bombing of the UN headquarters in Abuja.
Police and army authorities have waged a recent campaign against the group in their bases in Yobe and Borno states. Close to 61 people have been killed, including three soldiers and seven policemen.
To stem such bombings, the authorities in Nigeria’s Plateau State, yesterday banned the use of motor-cycles during the Yuletide.
http://pmnewsnigeria.com/2011/12/25/bomb-rocks-catholic-church-in-abuja/