Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan has declared a state of emergency as northern parts of Africa's most populous nation amid mounting concerns about attacks by Islamist militant group, Boko Haram, against especially the Christian population.
At least four people were killed in attacks in the city of Geidam, Nigeria, after vandals set fire to at eight churches, destroyed a police station and then set local shops ablaze.
Islamic militants shouting "Allahu Akbar", or 'Allah is great', carried out coordinated gun and bomb attacks on churches and police stations in northern Nigeria, killing at least 67 people and injuring some 100 others, aid workers and witnesses confirmed Saturday, November 5.
Already shell-shocked by attacks from Boko Haram, a hard-line Muslim group that seeks to impose Shariah (Muslim) law in the northern states of Nigeria, Christians again had to take cover after the August 27 shooting of Mark Ojunta, a 36-year-old evangelist from southern Nigeria ministering to the Kotoko people in one of Nigeria's northeastern states. This murder comes less that three months after Boko Haram killed a Maiduguri pastor, the same city as Mr. Ojunta.
The Christian community in Nigeria's central Plateau state are anxiously awaiting the arrival of some 1,300 additional riot police following weeks of sectarian violence that reportedly killed as many as 100 Christians.
Members of the Islamist group Boko Haram have murdered at least 10 Christians in Maiduguri during the last two months in what one Christian leader is calling a "silent killing" of Christians.
A committee of Nigeria's government was investigating Thursday, August 4, how to overcome rapidly spreading Islamic violence, after two weekend bomb explosions near churches in mainly Muslim areas.
Many churches throughout Nigeria have begun a 21-day fast to invoke divine intervention and protection from Boko Haram, an Islamic cult that has threatened to attack on the anniversary of the death of the sect's founder.
Christians prepared for a difficult weekend in Nigeria amid reports of a second bomb attack on a church close to the capital Abuja following deadly violence by suspected Muslim militants that already killed several Christians.
A feud between the Kona and Mumuye tribes in eastern Nigeria has resulted in the deaths of as many as 100 people, including Christians, more than previous estimates, missionaries said.