34 killed, 156 wounded in Nigeria church attacks - newspaper (2nd Update)

Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - Some 34 people were killed and 156 injured in three separate church attacks in Nigeria's northern city of Kaduna on Sunday, as well as the reprisal attacks that followed, according to the Sunday Trust newspaper.

The paper said it collated the figures from the three main hospitals where victims were taken, after suicide bombers rammed their explosive-laden vehicles into two churches in Zaria and another in Kaduna, the state capital located 60 kilometres away.

It said the number does not include the victims taken to private hospitals, an indication that more people may have been affected.

It said 11 persons have so far been killed in reprisal attacks across the state, which is almost equally divided between Christians and Muslims,

There are reports that two more churches have been attacked in the state,  but the police have yet to confirm.

The state government has already imposed a 24-hour curfew on the beleaguered state, while state Governor Patrick Yakowa is expected to make a state-wide broadcast to the residents soon.

Sunday Trust quoted Dr. Taylor Adeyemi, the acting Chief Medical Director of St. Luke's hospital in Wusasa, as saying 40 victims, mostly children, were brought into their hospital following the blast at ECWA in Wusasa. Of the number, he said, three were dead on arrival.

From the blast at the Christ the King Cathedral Catholic Church in Sabon Gari, Zaria, the paper confirmed 10 dead and over 50 injured.

It also quoted Dr. Lawal Khalid, the Chief Medical Director of the ABU Teaching Hospital in Zaria, as confirming that the hospital received nine victims dead on arrival and is treating 31 others.

The paper said it is yet to get details of the attack on a church at Trikania in the state capital..
-0- PANA SEG 17June2012