Panicked Catholics flee violence in northern Nigeria

Photo ~ Onlookers gather around a car destroyed in a blast next to St. Theresa Catholic Church in Madalla, Nigeria, Sunday, Dec. 25, 2011. An explosion ripped through a Catholic church during Christmas Mass near Nigeria's capital Sunday, killing scores of people, officials said. A radical Muslim sect claimed the attack and another bombing near a church in the restive city of Jos, as explosions also struck the nation's northeast. (AP Photo/Sunday Aghaeze)

Panicked Catholics flee violence in northern Nigeria

Abuja, Nigeria, Jan 26, 2012 / 01:50 am (CNA).- As many as 35,000 people have fled their homes in northern Nigeria after continuing attacks from the Islamic extremist group Boko Haram. Their numbers include a large number of Catholics who report that churches have been destroyed.

“There is panic. Many just leave everything behind, and run for safety, because they do not know when violence might flare up again,” a source told Aid to the Church in Need on Jan. 24.

On Jan. 20, Boko Haram killed at least 185 people in attacks that rocked Kano city, located in the state of Borno, the Associated Press reports.

The coordinated attacks used cars with heavy explosives and suicide bombers who targeted police stations. Men in security uniforms gunned down government officials.

Churches have also been destroyed in Maidiguri in Borno and the city of Bauchi, in Bauchi state.

“It is the stated goal of Boko Haram to make the whole of the north free of Christians,” one source told Aid to the Church in Need. Catholic News Agency