Nigeria: bishop describes Islamist terrorist attack

January 24, 2012

Bishop John Namanzah Niyiring has offered an account of the recent attack on Kano, Nigeria’s second-largest city, by the Islamist terrorist group Boko Haram. Nearly 200 lost their lives in the attack on the largely Muslim city of 3.4 million.

“The attackers seemed well trained and wore camouflage uniforms like those used by the mobile police force,” the Bishop of Kano told the Fides news agency. “This misled some civilians that directed themselves towards the terrorists, believing them to be policemen, and were killed without mercy. Among the targets hit with explosive devices are the headquarters of the Regional Police, the Security Service, Customs and Immigration Department, in addition to the police station.”

“A good number of terrorists were foreigners, especially from Niger and Chad,” Bishop Niyiring added. “Some of these are probably foreigners waiting for legal regulation and were recruited by Boko Haram. Even some of the Catholic Church structures were damaged, but priests and religious were not affected. But we have news of some of our parishioners among the victims.”

 

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Further information:

• "The attackers wore police uniforms", says to Fides the Bishop of Kano, some structures of the Church have also been damaged (Fides)
• Nigerian police find bomb-filled cars in Kano (Reuters)