AFRICA/NIGERIA - "Boko Haram is now composed of fanatics that affect Christians and Muslims," said Bishop Kaigama

Abuja (Agenzia Fides) - "In the beginning the aim of Boko Haram was to attack Christians in order to destabilize the community. But now the ferocity of the members of this movement has no limits to the point of slaughtering even those who should be their fellow Muslims.
Boko Haram has made further progress in the sophistication and ferocity of their attacks but it is now made up of fanatics who have lost their original goal" says to Fides Agency His Exc. Mgr. Ignatius Ayau Kaigama Archbishop of Jos and President of the Bishops Conference of Nigeria, in the aftermath of the massacre committed on the night of 29 September by Islamic extremists of Boko Haram in the College of Agriculture in Gujba in Yobe State (northern Nigeria). According to a survivor of the massacre quoted by the Associated Press, more than 40 victims were almost all Muslims.
Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan in a televised speech to the nation condemned the criminal act and asked himself what the goals of Boko Haram are. The President also drew parallels between the actions of Boko Haram and the massacre carried out by Shabaab Somalis in the Westgate Mall in Nairobi last week. Boko Haram said in the past that some of its members trained in Somalia with Shabaab. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 30/09/2013)