Renewed violence in Nigeria

A series of weekend attacks have left at least eight people dead as Nigeria's security situation continues to deteriorate amid a rising Islamist insurgency. Motorcycle-mounted gunmen yesterday killed three police officers at a checkpoint in Nigeria's troubled northeast.

At least five other people died in weekend attacks across Nigeria. Boko Haram has claimed responsibility for one of those attacks, which hit a major church in the city of Jos on Sunday morning. Three people were killed in the bombing, which provoked violent reprisals.

Dr. Khataza Gondwe, Christian Solidarity Worldwide’s team leader for Africa and the Middle East, spoke to us about the situation in Jos. “The attacks seem to be aimed at provoking communal violence. But the situation in Jos is slightly different from elsewhere, where you have sort of a Christian majority in the state and where there has been periodic violence anyway between the communities, which has been kept in check. In fact, Jos has been fairly peaceful recently…”

She said the escalation in violence is designed to raise tensions in the area: “So this seems, whether it was meant to or not, it’s calculated to heighten tension again, and lead to, maybe, more communal violence.”

She said that there was hope. “It seems, considering what happened on this day, the death toll in both, including the suicide bomb itself was really quite limited. So for that we’re thankful. And even afterwards, there wasn’t a high death toll. So it seems to have been contained, but we just pray that there are no more similar incidents to provoke further violence.”

Listen to the complete interview of Dr. Khataza Gondwe with Christopher Wells: