NIGERIA – Call for prayer and increased security after Christmas bombs target Christians

A very interesting post from http://www.releaseinternational.org/ about a bombing of Christians in Nigeria. This follows this post about Islamic terrorists advancing in 2011.  This follows this article about American energy independence and preventing money from going to hostile countries such as Iran and Venezuela. For more that you can do to get involved click HERE and read this very interesting book HERE!



NIGERIA – Call for prayer and increased security after Christmas bombs target Christians



Militants launched Christmas Day bomb attacks on Christian worshippers in three Nigerian states. The blasts killed around 40 who had gathered to celebrate Christmas and injured scores more.



The largest of several attacks took place in Madalla, Niger state, near the capital Abuja, where militants detonated a car bomb outside a Christmas service. They set off other blasts in Jos, central Plateau state, and Gadaka, Yobe state, in the north-east. Christian-owned shops and a home were set alight in Potsikum, also in Yobe.



Islamist militant group Boko Haram claimed responsibility, calling for an end to democracy and the imposition of Sharia (Islamic law) across Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation.



In the run-up to Christmas, Boko Haram set off nail bombs in TV-viewing centres in Christian areas. It's the second year running they have targeted Christians at Christmas.



The Christian Association of Nigeria is demanding government protection for churches, warning that Boko Haram may be trying to instigate a religious war. They have called on Christians to be law-abiding but say that, if the government does not defend them, they will have to defend themselves.



Release partners believe the Islamists' aim may be to stir up violent unrest that will tear the country in two, creating a separate north ruled by strict Sharia law.



For more news and a country profile about Nigeria, click here



(Sources: BBC, Agence France-Presse, Associated Press, Al Jazeera, Daily Telegraph)



• Please pray for those whose family members have been killed and injured as they celebrate Christmas. Pray that in their grief they will know the presence of Jesus, who is both Emmanuel – God with us – and the Prince of Peace.

• Pray that Christians will not allow themselves to be provoked into retaliation. Pray too that the Government will protect Christians where they are in a minority and deal effectively with the terrorist threat to their nation.