Kevin's Watch

"JOS, Nigeria, March 11 (Reuters) - A bomb blast struck a Catholic church in the volatile central Nigerian city of Jos on Sunday, causing numerous casualties, witnesses and the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) said.

"NEMA officials are on the scene of a suspected suicide explosion at Finber's Catholic Church, Rayfield, Jos. They are about to evacuate victims to hospital," NEMA spokesman Yushau Shuaib said.

A Reuters reporter on the scene was unable to gain access, as the police had cordoned off the area around the church."



We weren't at our regular church which is close to the Catholic church that was bombed (St. Finbarr's, actually) and which we pass to and from our church.... and we were able to get home, which is where we are staying for now.

Got stuff thrown together in case we decide to go to someone else's house.

This just really really sucks.

I've seen you post about this a few times, but I have no idea what it's about. Who's trying to kill whom?

This bombing, as the others, are claimed by "Boko Haram", a radical Isl@mic group which has taken hold in Nigeria. Their name means "Western education is worthless", and their goal is to impose Shari'a law throughout Nigeria. Ironically, although they have bombed churches recently, most of their victims have been less-radical Muslims, many of them police. They bombed a number of police stations in the northern city of Kano recently because some of their number were incarcerated and the police wouldn't release them.

I have no idea why they think bombing churches will serve their political goals. Maybe there isn't really a rational agenda; it could just be hatred.

However, for me the saddest part is the retaliatory killings that happen after the bombings. Young men (for the most part) get very angry and hot-headed. On our way home at the military checkpoint the soldiers made a busload of young men empty out; they sent the van onward but made all the men walk back up the way they came. They were pissed off and harassed the soldiers, who then chased them away, right by our car; but no blows were struck or shots fired, thank God, I have no interest in seeing that. I'm sure those young men were heading for the scene to fight.

A picture on the 'net shows a row of shops that may be near the church that has been destroyed (the pics they are showing in news stories are NOT St Finbar's, but another church that was bombed a few months ago). Not by the bomb, surely; it's too far away. It looks like it's down in the next village of Mai Adiko, where there has been ethnic violence before, in 2008. Muslims attempted to set fire to our church but were chased away; they broke a few windows and that was it. My husband got involved in our church's Youth Fellowship after that, teaching them what Jesus had to say about revenge and violence and what that meant for them practically. When you just saw your house burn down, it's hard in the moment to not get pretty angry and want to burn someone else's house down. But Jesus didn't promise easy.

Today an American soldier also apparently lost it in Afghanistan and killed 16 civvies; 9 children included. Not a good day for planet Earth.

I am sorry, DotD. What a mess.

I worry about ya.

you are in our prayers deer.

people suck...

Yeah, thought of you when I heard Deer.

deer of the dawn wrote: However, for me the saddest part is the retaliatory killings that happen after the bombings.

Reprisal Attacks Kill 10+ In Nigeria

Reprisal attacks by Christian youths in the central Nigerian city of Jos killed more than 10 people on Sunday, after suspected Islamist militants bombed a church, the health commissioner for Jos said.

"The situation is bad. Several were killed in the reprisal attacks, more than 10," Sati Dakwat told Reuters, after a bomb blast in a Catholic church in the city killed three people.

--A

One of our employees passed through the scene. Some of those killed were the soldiers posted at a junction nearby; their tent was burned and she saw other burnt bodies. I guess people figured it was the soldiers' fault for not vetting the cars passing by well enough; some even think they're in cahoots with Boko Haram.

It's all wrong.

There is fighting on the other side of the city today. But Jos is by no means the worst of it. Our employee had traveled back from Maiduguri (another state farther north) where she said the bombs are so regular, they call it "ringtone". When they hear explosions, they say "ringtone again". She felt compelled to disguise herself as a Muslim by wearing a burqa as she passed through certain places.

It's a crazy world we live in. Geez! Bombs were going off all over, Jos hardly made the BBC news yesterday. Be thankful if you have peace where you are.

Deer, I just saw your post. It is beyond my comprehension how or why anyone can indiscriminately kill others in this way. It is also beyond my comprehension how you cope with the situation around you. If the thoughts and prayers of others will help, please accept mine.

deer of the dawn wrote:My husband got involved in our church's Youth Fellowship after that, teaching them what Jesus had to say about revenge and violence and what that meant for them practically. When you just saw your house burn down, it's hard in the moment to not get pretty angry and want to burn someone else's house down. But Jesus didn't promise easy.

Btw, when I read this, I thought that your husband taking that opportunity to talk to the youth right then was AWEESOOMME.
(Most people wouldn't consider that an "opportunity"!)

Cybr's thread on church youth stuff in the Close reminded me.

(sorry to anyone who worried that this thread getting bumped meant there were 'updates'...)