(Updates with comments by Nigeria security adviser in seventh paragraph.)
Dec. 26 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. promised to help Nigeria find those responsible for a wave of Christmas Day bombings that killed dozens in the oil-rich African nation.
“We have been in contact with Nigerian officials about what appear to be terrorist acts and pledge to assist them in bringing those responsible to justice,” according to a statement by White House Press Secretary Jay Carney.
Authorities in Africa’s top oil producer blame the Boko Haram for a surge of violence in the mainly Muslim north and Abuja in which hundreds of people have died this year. Boko Haram, a Muslim sect, reportedly claimed responsibility for the attacks, two of which targeted churches. A year ago, the group said it was behind holiday bombings that killed more than 90.
The first explosion yesterday occurred as services were ending at St. Theresa’s Church near the capital, Abuja. Yemi Ajayi, a police spokesman, said at least 20 people were killed. Another blast, at a church in the central city of Jos, capital of Plateau state, killed a policeman, said Pam Ayuba, a spokesman for the state government.
A suspected suicide-bomber rammed a car into the entrance of the State Security Service building in the northeastern city of Damaturu, killing four people and the bomber, Victor Ebhaleme, a spokesman for the military task force in charge of security in the region, said by phone from Maiduguri.
Attacks by the group would have been worse during the holiday period had it not been for preemptive action by the security agencies, President Goodluck Jonathan’s security adviser said.
‘Improvised Explosives’
“Out of frustration arising from pro-active measures taken by security agencies against their chosen targets, they decided to throw improvised explosive devices from a moving vehicle,” Owoye Azazi, a retired army general, said in a statement e- mailed today.
Security officials last week recovered five improvised explosive devices from five churches in Mubi in the northeastern state of Adamawa, he said.
Nigerian security agencies also last week destroyed armoury belonging to the group in the northern states of Kaduna, Kano and Yobe, he said.
Boko Haram
The Boko Haram, a group that draws inspiration from Afghanistan’s Taliban movement, claimed responsibility for the Abuja church attack, the Abuja-based Trust newspaper reported, citing a spokesman for the group, Abu Qaqa. The claim couldn’t be independently verified.
The Vatican denounced the attacks, saying the church bombings were a sign of “cruelty and absurd blind hatred that shows no respect for human life.
At least 72 people have been killed in fighting since Dec. 22 between Nigerian security forces and the militant group in the northeastern city of Damaturu, officials said.
Boko Haram, which translates to ‘‘Western education is a sin,’’ claimed responsibility for a suicide car-bomb attack on the United Nations building in the capital on Aug. 26 that killed 24 people. The group also claimed several Christmas Eve blasts last year in Jos that left 80 people dead and another blast on New Year’s Eve at an Abuja military barracks that killed at least 12 people.
--Editors: James Kraus, Louis Meixler
To contact the reporters on this story: Vincent Nwanma in Lagos at vnwanma@bloomberg.net; Gbenga Akingbule in Johannesburg at gakingbule@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Andrew J. Barden at barden@bloomberg.net