Man to die by hanging over N2,105 robbery

Jos—A Jos High Court,yesterday, sentenced a 26-year-old man, Obinna John, to death by hanging for robbing a woman of N1,705.

The convict was also said to have robbed his victim, one Dorothy Olaniyi, of two rolls of satchet peak milk, valued at N400.

The prosecution counsel, Mr. G. D. Fwonyon, Plateau State Deputy Director of Public Prosecution, had told the court that John, in company of an accomplice, also named John, now at large, on November 18, 2005, robbed the woman, a resident of Gada Biu, in Jos, in her shop, at gunpoint.

In a 60-page judgment, Justice Yargata Nimpa said the evidence before the court had shown that the accused committed the offence and sentenced John to death by hanging.

He ruled: “The accused is hereby sentenced to death by hanging, but the judgement is liable to an appeal.”

John’s counsel, Mr. Tobechukwu Kekemeke, said they would head for the Court of Appeal.

U.S. places Boko Haram leaders on terror list, troops arrest kingpin

Barack Obama American President

‘Six bombers got N7,500 each for church attack’

MASS arrest and parade of suspects, who confessed to one role or the other in the current insurgency in the North, were among the feats recorded by security forces yesterday.

The confession of the suspects came as the United States (U.S.) government yesterday joined Nigeria’s crackdown on suspected terrorists by placing some leaders of the Boko Haram sect on its terror list.

Although the Barack Obama administration did not outrightly declare Boko Haram a Foreign Terror Group (FTO), in a statement issued yesterday by the State Department, the U.S. named those affected by the action as the leaders of the group, Abubakar Shekau, 43, Abubakar Adam Kambar, 35, and Khalid al-Barnawi, 35.

Among those arrested by the Joint Task Force (JTF) yesterday in Damaturu, Yobe State, was a kingpin of the group, identified as Habib Bama.

He was alleged to be the mastermind of the bombing of a church in Madalla, near Abuja. Bama was arrested in the early hours of yesterday in the state capital.

The Yobe State Commander of JTF, Col. Dahiru Abdulsalam, told reporters that Bama’s arrest was due to a tip-off from some residents in Damaturu and Potiskum.

He said: “Our men and other intelligence agents in the state in the early hours of Thursday (yesterday) arrested Habib Bama.

He was picked up from a location in Damaturu metropolis while attempting to escape this morning.”

He urged the residents to continue to co-operate with the JTF, Police and other security operatives in their effort to restore peace in Yobe.

The confession of the suspects of the bombing of churches in Biu, Borno State, depicted the horrible situation in Nigeria and the bestiality of man.

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, just released from prison then, may have adequately captured the present scenario in his 386-page book: This Animal Called Man.

The title of the book suggested a demeaning of the human person, but as some foot soldiers used in the bombing of the Biu churches made their confessions, it was clear the title was very apt.

It was a shell-shock time for journalists covering the parade of the suspects as they opened up on their escapades. A suspected kingpin of the terror group, Magaji Bala, told reporters that he paid a paltry sum of N7,500 to each of the six suspects to attack one of the churches and kill an undisclosed number of worshippers in the town, located 187 kilometres south of Maiduguri, the Borno State capital.

Bala said: “I gave each of the six suspects N7,500 to facilitate and execute the attack on one of the churches at 9.35 a.m.”

He told reporters that he belonged to the Boko Haram sect in Biu and that the suspects were butchers in the town. Bala said they were arrested in their respective houses at 2.30 p.m. after they launched the attack.

Spokesman of JTF, Lt.-Col. Sagri Musa, said the task-force was still quizzing other suspects linked with the incident, adding that they were picked up from various locations following information provided by residents on their profession and residences in Biu.

Another suspect, Ibrahim Mohammed Babangida, said: “Magaji Bala came to me at my meat shop and asked me to assist him in executing the activities of our association (Boko Haram sect) at an undisclosed church. He gave me N7,500 cash and left without giving me further instructions on how to assist him.”

The others were Alhassan Inuwa, Nuhu Zakari, Dahiru Sa’adu, Mohammed Nurah and Mohammed Sani.

Sagir alerted residents on the use of stolen or snatched vehicles by terrorists for suicide car-bombings and attacks.

He said: “Information recently available to the JTF in Maiduguri indicated that there have been desperate moves by Boko Haram to steal/snatch vehicles to be used for terrorists’ activities by implanting Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) in vehicles and or through suicide car-bombing.” He warned that such vehicles if used for terrorism acts would lead to their owners being treated as collaborators and accomplices.

The three Boko Haram members on the U.S. terror list will now be subjected to America’s search and military action.

The U.S. said Shekau, Kambar and al-Barnawi are now “specially designated global terrorists under section 1(b) of Executive Order  (EO) 13224.”

The three-paragraph statement concluded that “the designation under EO, that is executive order 13224, blocks all of Shekau’s, Kambar’s and al-Barnawi’s property interests subject to U.S. jurisdiction and prohibits American persons from engaging in transactions with or for the benefit of these individuals. These designations demonstrate the United States’ resolve in diminishing the capacity of Boko Haram to execute violent attacks. The Department of State took these actions in consultation with the Departments of Justice and Treasury.”

It said Shekau “is the most visible leader of the Nigeria-based militant group, Jama’atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati Wal-Jihad, commonly referred to as Boko Haram. Khalid al-Barnawi and Abubakar Adam Kambar have ties to Boko Haram and have close links to al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, a designated Foreign Terrorist Organisation.”

The U.S. said: “Under Shekau’s leadership, Boko Haram has claimed responsibility for numerous attacks in northern Nigeria, its primary area of operation. In the last 18 months, Boko Haram or associated militants have killed more than 1,000 people. Boko Haram is credited with the August 26, 2011 attack on the United Nations (UN) building in Abuja that killed at least 23 people and wounded scores more. Boko Haram also claimed responsibility for the December 25, 2011 attack on the Saint Theresa Catholic Church in Madalla that killed at least 35 and wounded dozens more. Boko Haram’s deadliest violence occurred on January 20, 2012 in Kano, with a series of attacks that killed more than 180 people. Boko Haram‘s victims have been overwhelmingly civilians.”

Nigeria’s Ambassador to the U.S., Prof. Ade Adefuye, told our source that the Federal Government had been informed of the action.

Adefuye, who expressed sadness over the development, said he would continue Nigeria’s campaign in the U.S. government circles, both at the Congress and at the White House to subvert plans to designate a group from Nigeria as terrorists because of the implications for all Nigerians, especially when they travel.

He said:  “I am heading out to Congress and the White House this morning (yesterday)” to avert plans to bring the entire country under the designation and expressed hopes that based on the warm relationships between the embassy and the U.S. government, such clampdown could be stalled.”

But the Secretary-General of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), Dr. Lateef Adegbite, has asked the U.S. not to list Boko Haram as a terrorist group because of the grave implication of such classification.

Adegbite said Nigeria should be given more time to dialogue with the group and reintegrate its members into the larger society.

The terror attacks, he stated, were “a total challenge and war against all Nigerians,” adding that “it is beyond religion and against the people of this country.”

He said Nigerians must ensure that the attacks by the terror group does not degenerate into turning the nation into another Afghanistan, Somalia and Mali.

Adegbite told journalists after a meeting with Vice President Namadi Sambo that the government was doing its best, as the perpetrators of the terror attacks “are faceless people.”

The Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), South-East zone, has condemned the killing of Christians in the North by terrorists.

After a meeting in Enugu yesterday, the NUJ urged the government to adopt proactive measures to stem the tide.

In a statement issued at the end of the meeting signed by the Vice President (Zone C), Mr. Chris Isiguzo and Zonal Secretary, Monic Okechukwu, the union frowned at the deplorable condition of federal roads in the zone and called on the government to address the situation.

Also, leaders of former militants in the Niger Delta have appealed to the government to deal decisively with the Boko Haram insurgency before reprisal attacks become a trend.

In a statement issued after a meeting in Abuja on Wednesday, they feared that with the pattern the insurgency had taken, after President Goodluck Jonathan’s tenure, similar attacks on the new government possibly will be initiated by aggrieved regions.

“The Federal Government must forcefully stop this strange and dangerous ominous trend in our polity. We recall how the Nigerian government deployed armed troops in the Niger Delta, which decimated Odi, Ayakoromo, Gbaramatu Kingdom and other communities in its alleged bid to combat militancy. It is however strange to note that the government has treated the Boko Haram insurgency with kid gloves,” the statement added.

   

Boko Haram: Oil workers threaten to leave North •As PENGASSAN warns of Nigeria’s break-up •MASSOB calls for evacuation of Igbos from North •CAN spits fire

Ralph Uwazuruike

THE Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) warned, on Wednesday, that the attacks on Christian worshippers by the Boko Haram sect in Kaduna and the reprisals on innocent Muslims may mark the beginning of violent break-up of Nigeria as it happened in Yugoslavia.

PENGASSAN declared in a statement entitled: “The road to Yugoslavia,” that the development represents a dangerous descent into anomie, reminiscent of the horrific inter-ethnic and religious war that marked the violent break-up of the former Yugoslavia.

PENGASSAN said it would not hesitate to call out its members, starting from its Kaduna zone, if government continues by its inaction to imperil the lives and limbs of Nigerians, particularly those residing in the northern part of the country.

In the statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Comrade ‘Deji Kolawole, PENGASSAN said: “The attacks on Christian worshippers in Kaduna and Zaria last Sunday, claimed by the terrorist group, Boko Haram and the consequent reprisals on innocent Muslims, represent a dangerous descent into anomie, reminiscent of the horrific inter-ethnic and religious war that marked the violent break-up of the former Yugoslavia.”

But he added: “Nigeria cannot afford to take this road to self-destruction, for when the rich make war, it is the poor that suffer. We, therefore, appeal to Nigerians to exercise great restraint in the face of the constant provocation and violence perpetrated on other innocent Nigerians by terrorists under the hood of religionists whose aim is, obviously, to precipitate an ethnic cum religious war in the country. We must note that an eye for an eye would only make us all blind.”

The statement read: “The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) expresses grave concern on the deteriorating security situation in the country resulting in the loss of innocent lives and which has led, lately, to the declaration of a 24-hour curfew in two states — Kaduna and Yobe — with the attendant impact on the socio-economic lives of the citizens of those states and other neighbouring states.

“We further call on the Federal Government of Nigeria, which has all the coercive powers of state to wake up to its primary responsibility, i.e. the security and welfare of the people as enunciated in section 14 of the 1999 Constitution.

“We and indeed all Nigerians are tired of the president’s usual swan song of expressing heartfelt condolences, condemning the dastardly act and promising to bring perpetrators to book whenever attacks like these happen.”

Igbos must leave North —Uwazuruike
The leader of the Movement for the Actualisation of Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), Chief Ralph Uwazuruike and prominent Igbo leaders have insisted that Igbos should evacuate the troubled North.

Uwazuruike, who is also the new Ezeigbo, noted that the renewed call for the evacuation of Ndigbo from the zone was premised on the growing insecurity, with Igbo Christians taking the highest casualty.

Speaking with newsmen by telephone, the MASSOB leader noted that the recent bombing of churches by the Boko Haram sect had exposed the inability of the security forces to tackle the current security challenges and guarantee the security of lives and properties of Nigerians.

Uwazurike, who chided the Joint Task Force (JTF) for withdrawing security from churches in Kaduna when they had intelligence report about an imminent attack, called on Igbos to abandon their businesses in the North and come back home until normalcy returned.

Debunking rumours of possible reprisals in the South-East, Uwazuruike maintained that MASSOB, as a non-violent organisa-tion, upheld the sanctity of life and would not engage in senseless killings and destructions that had become the hallmark of Boko Haram.

Also speaking, Chief Rommy Ezeonwuka, the Ogirishi Igbo, noted that the current crisis in the North was fast degenerating into a religious war that had defied military solution, stressing that security operatives could no longer guarantee the safety of Igbos in the North.

In a related development, Igbos living in Kano have expressed readiness to leave the troubled city, in compliance with the directive of the Igbo leaders, lamenting that they had been living in fear since the breakout of the Boko Haram insurgency.

Speaking with our source, the president-general of Ndigbo living in Kano, Chief Leonard Nwosu, said despite the efforts of security operatives to restore peace and security, Igbos still lived in fear.

Boko Haram has declared war on Christians —CAN
The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has reacted to Sunday’s attacks on three churches in Kaduna State, saying they were an indication that Boko Haram has declared war on Christians and Christianity in the country.

This is just as CAN in the North-Central declared that Boko Haram insurgence in the northern part had destroyed virtually all the good things the region was known for.

The CAN, in an advertisement placed on Wed-nesday and signed by Kenny Ashaka, special assistant, media and public affairs to its president, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, said the latest attacks in Kaduna and Yobe states suggested “a systematic religious cleansing which reminds Christians of the genesis of the jihad.”

While calling on President Goodluck Jonathan to act fast before the crisis got out of hand, CAN also called on the American government to quickly designate the Boko Haram sect as terrorist organisation.

Chairman, North-Central CAN, Reverend Yakubu Pam, while speaking with Nigerian Tribune, expressed disappointment over the level of destruction of both properties and human lives occasioned by the menace of the Boko Haram in recent times.

Pope wants end to terrorism in Nigeria
Pope Benedict SVI, in a statement released by the Vatican Information Service, has called for an end to the terror attacks against Christians in the country.

The pope appealed for an immediate end to the killing of many innocent people, while he also appealed to Nigerians to work together to end the violence.

JTF alerts to suicide bombing plan in Borno
The JTF in Borno State has alerted the people top the alleged plan by the Boko Haram to use stolen vehicles for suicide bomb attacks in the state.

Spokesman of the task force, Lieutenant-Colonel Sagir Musa, said members of the sect were on desperate moves to snatch vehicles to perpetrate bomb attacks.

He also said the JTF troops and personnel of the Department of State Services arrested six suspected Boko Haram men believed to be involved in the attack on EYN Church in Biu, on Sunday.

Bauchi suicide bomber died while receiving treatment —Police
The Bauchi State police command, on Wednesday, said a young man, suspected to be a suicide bomber, who was blown up on Tuesday when an improvised explosive device he was carrying exploded in Bauchi, had died while receiving treatment.

A release signed by the state PPRO, Idris Abuba-kar, said before his death, he confessed to being a member of the sect, adding that one revolver pistol and five rounds of ammunition were recovered from him.

We’ll bring perpetrators to book —Petinrin, Abubakar
The Chief of Defence Staff, Air Marshal Oluseyi Petinrin and the acting Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar, in Kaduna, on Wednesday, said those hiding under religion to forment trouble would be brought to book.

The duo, after a closed door meeting with Governor Patrick Yakowa, assured residents and the government that security agencies would collaborate to ensure that normalcy returned to the state immediately.

However, calm is gradually returning to Kaduna after three days of tension, just as major streets within the metropolis have been deserted by residents who have been forced to remain indoors because of the 24-hour curfew imposed on them by the state government.

Fresh crisis erupts at Kiyama
Fresh crisis erupted at Kiyama, near Kaduna, on Wednesday, where allegedly armed Christian youths killed some Muslims in the area.
The crisis began where the youth allegedly tore the hijab of a Muslim lady in the Christian-dominated area.

The state PPRO, Aminu Lawan, said the situation was, however, under control.

 

Name change: It’s not over yet, say UNILAG students

Unilag students protesting the name change.

The calm that pervades the main campus of the University of Lagos after resumption of academic activities last Monday after a three-week suspension may be shattered as students vowed to resume protests if the bill presented to the Senate by President Goodluck Jonathan is passed into law.

Students who on Monday resumed lectures after suspension of academic activities by the University Senate vowed to continue the protest until the name, UNILAG is restored. Nevertheless, classes were opened for lectures and hostels for returning students.

However, the hitherto busy campus in Akoka was relatively sparsely populated as most students on campus were predominantly freshmen completing admission formalities, and final year students.

According to Tosin, a freshman, lectures started on Monday without any interruption from protesting students. Prince Adeyemi Majid, a 300-level Education Administration student noted that the present peace prevalent on campus does not portray the true state of affairs as far as students are concerned.

“We have not accepted MAULAG in place of UNILAG because it is a brand name that needed not to be changed. We are calm because we are waiting for the outcome of the bill before the Senate. If President Jonathan really wants to immortalise MKO, he should associate him with something in line with democracy,” he said.

He added: “I heard President Jonathan proposing to build a presidential mansion, he could name it after the late MKO. Better still, he can rename Aso Rock as MKO Rock which could be seen as a national honour for the icon who fought and died for democracy.”

Speaking in the same vein, Oluwatosin Ogunbiyi, a 200-level student of Linguistics said students shelved the protest because they are waiting for the outcome of the bill President Jonathan submitted before the Senate.

Ogunbiyi said: “The situation on campus is calm not because we have accepted MAULAG, but because we are waiting for the outcome of the bill presented by President Jonathan before the Senate for approval.”

Nonetheless, he added, “I believe the situation will still go the way of subsidy removal protest by the whole country which yielded no positive result. At the end of the day, the federal might prevailed. If the whole country could not change the Federal Government decision on subsidy removal, UNILAG students who are relatively few cannot withstand it.”

ASUU Chairman, UNILAG chapter, Dr Karo Ogbinaka in his own contribution maintained that the university rejects the renaming, stressing that President Goodluck Jonathan’s power as visitor of the institution does not include the change of the university’s name.

He said: “President Jonathan was six years old when UNILAG was established by an Act of Parliament in 1962. He cannot just rise up and change a 50-year-old name that has produced an Attorney-General of the Federation.”

Ogbinaka added that the Ibadan zone of ASUU which comprises University of Lagos, University of Ibadan, Lagos State University and others, met and agreed that the name, UNILAG, must remain unchanged.  “We are waiting for the outcome of the case in court as ASUU and the school alumni have sued the Federal Government on this issue.

It will be recalled that the renaming of the institution sparked off a peaceful protest from students and lecturers on the first day and later degenerated into violence that led to a clash between students and the Nigeria Police Force.
Subsequently, to arrest the situation, UNILAG Senate suspended academic activities for two weeks and compelled students to return home. Moreover, at the expiration of the two weeks, a week was added.

Northern leaders have case to answer on Boko Haram – Iwuanyanwu

Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu member of the Board of Trustees, BoT, of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and publisher of Champions Newspaper Ltd

ABUJA—An event organised in honour of the retiring Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN, Justice Dahiru Musdapher, in Abuja, Tuesday, took a different dimension, after a member of the Board of Trustees, BoT, of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and publisher of Champions Newspaper Ltd, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, urged the Federal Government to hold northern leaders responsible for the increasing spate of violence by the Boko Haram Islamist sect.

Iwuanyanwu, who presided over the presentation of a book entitled Tit-Bits of Advocacy, dedicated to Justice Musdapher by the Imo Law Publishers, in his speech, said: “Boko Haram problem cannot be solved by killing or shooting people. It can only be solved by the leaders in the areas where they operate.

“The massive killings must stop. Nigerians must feel free to travel to various parts of the country without fear. Nigerians must worship their God according to their faith without fear of being killed or bombed in their places of worship.”

He warned that if the violent trend was not promptly curtailed, reprisal attacks from other ethnic or religious groups would occasion chaos and may threaten the continued existence of the country which he described as “the pride of the black race.”

He said: “MASSOB has a lot of capacity for destruction, but we, the leaders intervened and called them to order. We have been able to explain to them that their aspirations can be met without violence, bloodshed, massacre or bombing of any Nigerian citizen.

“It is on record that there has been no violence in any of the states neither at the national level because the leadership in the South-East has been able to keep them under control. Boko Haram problem cannot be solved by killing or shooting people. The leaders must call them to order. The problem of Boko Haram cannot be solved by Federal Government alone.

“It can only be solved by the leaders from the areas where they reside. The leaders must emphasise to them the benefit we gain by living together as brothers and sisters. I do not agree with some people who justify killing innocent people because people are unemployed or poor. All over the world, including the rich advanced countries, there are poor people, there are unemployed people.

“I sincerely appeal to Boko Haram for a ceasefire, while allowing the leaders and elders from the various states and zones where they operate to have dialogue with them. I also appeal to the Federal Government, as a reciprocal gesture, to stop the use of the military in handling this matter because of the great risk of killing innocent citizens in the process.”

We’re ready for dialogue, Borno cries out
Meanwhile, Governor Kashim Shettima of Borno State, who was represented at the event by his deputy, Alhaji Zanna Mustapha, spurned the argument around, alleging that some Christians are equally members of the Boko Haram sect.

Though he decried the growing level of insecurity in Borno State owing to the terrorist activities of the sect, he maintained that it was wrong for some persons to portray the sect as killing only Christians, saying, “we should be careful about whatever we say about this sect. They have killed over 101of our Muslim brothers and equally destroyed several mosques.

“We have seen a situation where a person answering to the name John was caught as a result of his involvement with the Boko Haram. So it is not an issue of religion. Where is the man that was recently caught with explosives at the Radio House? Where is he today and who knows his name?

“We have been in dilemma for the past 380 days since we assumed office in Borno State due to the activities of Boko Haram, which has spread to states like Yobe, Kaduna, Kano, Bauchi among other northern states. Please and please, for those who know them and those who can get in touch with them, let them come forward.

“The people of my state are ready for dialogue. However, it should be seen in the light of what was happening in the Niger Delta during the days of late President Umaru Yar’Adua. I call on the Federal Government to support the various state governments towards finding a lasting solution to the problem.”

Meanwhile, the CJN, who sat quietly through the debate, expressed his gratitude to the publishers of the book, saying though “books of this nature that examine the life and legacy of a person are typically written posthumously. But Allah has given me the opportunity to witness it in my lifetime.

“At this point, I crave your indulgence to digress a little and use this opportunity to offer a few words of advice to members of the legal profession. Despite societal pressures and distractions, we must remain steadfast and focused in the discharge of our duties. Judges must remain incorruptible and lawyers must continue to pursue the course of truth as we are all ministers in the temple of justice.

“We are the trustees of the law and the hope of the common man rests upon us. We should not by our shortcomings or self-interest, shatter this hope. We must reignite passion for our profession and rededicate ourselves to the protection of the constitution and our democracy.”

 

CHARLY BOY IS 61 TODAY.

Nigerian popular singer, Charles Oputa a.k.a. Charly Boy is 61 today June 19, 2012.

WE ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR KADUNA BOMBING- BOKO HARAM

Kaduna`s empty street

KADUNA was asleep for hours yesterday – no thanks to a 24-hour curfew imposed by the government to quell Sunday’s reprisals after suicide bombings of three churches.
But there was time to count the dead  -  50, the Nigerian Red Cross said.
The Islamist sect Boko Haram  claimed responsibility for the suicide attacks in Zaria and Kaduna – the North’s political capital.
The state government relaxed the 24-hour curfew, allowing residents time to search for loved ones and get supplies.
The Army said it had recovered a mobile phone belonging to one of the suicide bombers. It gave no details.
Aid workers searched for bodies among charred vehicles and destroyed market stalls.
Officials refused to give a breakdown of the death toll, clarifying who died in the blasts and who was killed in reprisals.
“We did that for a reason,” said Andronicus Adeyemo, deputy head of disaster management at the Nigerian Red Cross. “Those figures are sensitive.”
Authorities of St. Gerard Catholic Hospital said 42 bodies were deposited in its morgue; 72 injured are being treated.
The Matron of the Barau Dikko Specialist Hospital, Mrs. Hassana Garba said there are 12 bodies in the hospital.
 Authorities fear that a breakdown of the deaths will trigger reprisal killings. Most of the victims killed in church on Sunday are presumed to be Christian and most of those killed in reprisals are presumed to be Muslims, raising concerns that a distinction between initial and reprisal deaths will be interpreted as a Christian and Muslim breakdown.
In Kaduna, relief officials said they were still collecting bodies. Most victims were petty traders and transporters, such as bus drivers and commercial motorcyclist, who are presumed to be Muslims and who commute daily to the predominantly Christian southern part of the city. 
Charred motorcycles, buses and stalls littered the city’s deserted streets.
“We are still picking up bodies from reprisals,” Musa Ilela, the National Emergency Management Agency co-ordinator for Kaduna State, said.
Boko Haram said in an email that it was responsible for the attacks.
“Allah has given us victory in the attacks we launched (Sunday) against churches in Kaduna and Zaria towns which resulted in the deaths of many Christians and security personnel,” the statement in Hausa said.
Boko Haram, which means “Western education is sacrilege” in Hausa, is waging an increasingly bloody fight with security agencies and the public. More than 580 people have been killed in violence blamed on the sect this year alone.
Among those who died in the violence that ensued after the bombings was an official of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) who helped in evacuating victims at the Shalom Hospital. 
The government, in a statement by the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Media, Reuben Buhari, said it decided to relax the curfew in view of the return to normalcy in the city. 
The statement reads: “The 24 hours curfew imposed on Kaduna State in view of the recent incident has now been relaxed. With effect from today, Monday 18th June, people of Kaduna State can move freely from 2.00pm to 6.00pm. Subsequently, the curfew will now start from 6.00pm to 6.00am. The people are requested to remain calm, law abiding and cooperate with security agencies.”
The Kaduna State chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and the Awareness Initiative of Nigerian (CHAIN) and the Nigerian Youth Council condemned the attack in strong terms and urged youths to refrain from reprisal attack. 
In a statement by its Chairman, Rev. Sam Kujiyat, CAN asked the government to investigate the activities of soldiers who allegedly shot and killed two people within the metropolis during the protest against the bombings. 
“Let there be investigation because it is clear the soldiers were just shooting people. And many of the casualties were even shot to death by soldiers and police,” the CAN statement said. 
The body expressed sadness over the reaction of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal, whom they alleged reacted to the reprisal attack rather than the attack on churches. 
CAN said: “The suicide bombings unexpectedly provoked dangerous and angry protests by youths in Kaduna South and environs bringing about deaths, injuries and destruction of property and vehicles of innocent people and is regrettable and condemnable in all sense. 
“But that reaction of Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, appears to be diversionary and political. He tends to be concerned with reprisal attacks than bothering about those killed and injured in the attacks against churches and Christians. It is unfortunate and demeaning to his office as a leader in the country to think in this way and manner 
 “CAN Kaduna State chapter wishes to appeal to all and sundry in Kaduna State to remain calm and cooperate with the Government to bring things under full normalcy in order to confront the bigger threat of Boko Haram in other guise. 
The National Co-ordinator of the Christian Awareness Initiative of Nigerian (CHAIN) Pastor Ma’aji asked the government to stop attacks on Christians and churches. 
CHAIN said: “Boko Haram’s insurgency against Christians is something every person abreast with issues in Nigeria is aware of and this has continued unabated. 
“CHAIN makes a clarion call on government to work and bring to an end the attacks against Christians and their churches in northern Nigeria. CHAIN wishes to remind the Nigerian public and the Presidency that Tirkania, one of the areas a church was attacked, is said to be where one suspected Boko Haram sponsor, who was arrested and released and the case has remained silent, lives.”
The National Youth Council of Nigeria in Kaduna State condemned the suicide attacks and the violence that followed and called on the youth to refrain from reprisal attacks on innocent people who are going about their businesses. 
Its Secretary General, Danjuma Sariki, said in a statement that attacking innocent people will not solve the problem but rather escalate the problem and bring about more violence, thereby making our enemies proud and feeling that their aim of distablising and dividing us is being achieved.  
He said: “Instead, the youths should remain calm, foster peace in their communities and cooperate with the security agencies in exposing the perpetrators of these dastardly acts. These bombings are some too many that needs the cooperation and understanding of all to nip it in the bud.