AFRICA/NIGERIA - "In Kaduna calm has returned, and security forces are doing their best," the Archbishop told Fides

Abuja (Agenzia Fides) - "The situation is quite calm. The police have limited the curfew, which now ranges from 6 pm to 6 am. The population has been able to resume its activities in the hours when the curfew is not in force " says to Fides His Exc. Mgr. Matthew Man-oso Ndagoso, Archbishop of Kaduna, the capital of the State in northern Nigeria, where on Sunday, June 17 a car bomb attacked the Pentacostal church in Shalom. At the same time in Zaria (always in the state of Kaduna) other two churches including the Catholic Cathedral (see Fides 18/06/2012) were attacked in the same way. The attacks were claimed by the Islamist Boko Hara sect.
The toll of the attacks and the actions triggered reprisals against the Muslim community causing sixty deaths. "Unfortunately many young people reacted to the attacks with more violence. Unfortunately there are victims in both communities, Christian and Muslim," said Mgr. Ndagoso. "I met with the civil authorities and security managers of Kaduna. They are doing their best in keeping the situation under control " concludes the Archbishop. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 19/6/2012)