In Nigeria, bombing of churches injures dozens

Nigerian soldiers were responsible for at least eight of 21 deaths after a suicide bombing of two churches Sunday, June 3, local sources claim, according to a Compass Direct News June 7 report.

Many of those injured from the blast and alleged military shooting have been in critical condition, Compass noted.

A statement reportedly from the Muslim extremist sect Boko Haram claimed responsibility for the suicide bombing of the Living Faith church on the outskirts of the northern Nigerian city of Bauchi. The blast also collapsed a wall of the nearby Harvest Field Church of Christ.

Of 61 people taken to Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Teaching Hospital Bauchi after the blast, 38 were in critical condition, a staff member told Compass on condition of anonymity; the other 23 have been treated and sent home. Church leaders said at a June 4 news conference that 45 Christians were considered injured.

The military shot eight Christians to death, said Lawi Pokti, chairman of the Bauchi chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria.

Twenty-five were injured by the bomb blast, "while 20 sustained various degrees of injuries from the gunshots by soldiers," Pokti said. Read more