Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Maiduguri (Fides Service) - "It is clear that the tension in the city is very high, since there are armed groups who go around shooting people", says Mgr. Oliver Dashe Doem to Fides, Bishop of Maiduguri, in north Nigeria, where on July 3 at least 10 people were killed and several others injured in the explosion of a bomb in a coffee bar. Previously, in an ambush attributed to the sect Boko Haram, a local politician had been assassinated. Between Saturday 2 and Sunday, July 3 a dozen other people were killed in clashes with firearms.
On the possibility that these attacks and bombings are the result of a clear strategy, Mgr. Doem responds: "It is difficult to answer because the situation is very complicated. One cannot exclude political implication. Some environments may have 'deviated 'the sect Boko Haram for their own purposes. No one has said explicitly what they want to achieve with these attacks. Certainly there are forces who do not want peace in the area".
The Bishop of Maiduguri emphasizes that "not only Christians are taken as a target. Taking into consideration the fact that a bomb exploded near the home of the Muslim leader of Borno, or when the market was hit, populated by all, Christians and Muslims. Certainly Christians are suffering: many believers have been killed, and last month our Cathedral was seriously damaged in an attack. But the victims are not just Christians", concludes Mgr. Doem. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 05/07/2011)
