Nigeria Christians Flee As Bombs, Shootings Claim 185 Lives

Christians are fleeing northern Nigeria where bomb blasts rocked the Bauchi and Kano states over the weekend, killing at least 185 people, including Christians, said rights activists and church officials"

Militant Islamic group Boko Haram, or 'Western education is a sin', claimed responsibility for the multiple bombings and a shooting spree targeting the immigration services, police headquarters and State Security Service (SSS) building in Kano, claiming most reported lives.

The group had threatened to unleash multiple blasts there after one of their cells was uncovered in December 2011, saying they would take action if their people were not released.

In an open letter to Kano's residents following the weekend bombings, Boko Haram’s spokesman Abul Qaqa reportedly said that only the intervention of un-named Muslim scholars was preventing the group from unleashing an “endless campaign of violence” on the state.

In a statement distributed by rights group Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) the Anglican Bishop of Kano said he had identifying the corpse of a member of his congregation who had been missing since Friday. “The target was the government, but who is the government? It is the people,” the official said.

CHURCHES ATTACKED