Nigeria Christian Leaders Say Killings ‘Ethnic, Religious Cleansing’

The head of Nigeria's Christians said Saturday the killing of dozens of faithful in attacks blamed on Islamists suggested "ethnic and religious cleansing" reminiscent of the start of the 1960s civil war.

Christians will "do whatever it takes" to defend themselves, Ayo Oritsejafor, head of the Christian Association of Nigeria, said after a meeting of church leaders.

More than 30 worshippers have been shot dead in northeast Nigeria since Wednesday, many while praying in churches, after the expiration of an ultimatum by an Islamist sect for Christians to leave the country's mainly Muslim north.

Oritsejafor said an emergency meeting of church heads concluded "that the pattern of these killings does suggest to us a systematic ethnic and religious cleansing."

The attacks have brought back memories of the start of the Nigerian civil war which claimed over a million lives in the late 1960s, the leaders said.

"We are reminded by the occurrences of these killings of the genesis of the civil war that took place here in Nigeria," said Oritsejafor, reading from a statement prepared after the meeting in the capital Abuja.

Nigeria's 160 million people are roughly divided between a mainly Muslim north and predominantly Christian south, but followers of both faiths co-exist in different regions.

The escalating attacks have raised fears of reprisals.

Oritsejafor said the Christian leaders resolved to "work out means to defend ourselves against these senseless killings."

"We have the legitimate right to defend ourselves and ... we will do whatever it takes," he said, without elaborating.

The leaders also denounced state governors in the areas where the killings occurred for failing to stop the violence.

"We hold them responsible for these heinous killings of people taking place in their states. We will not take it lightly."

Adamawa state, where most of the killings happened on Friday, was on Saturday placed under a 24-hour curfew in an effort to stem the carnage.

President Goodluck Jonathan a week ago placed parts of northeast Nigeria under emergency rule in a bid to curb escalating violence after 49 people were killed on Christmas Day, most of them at a Catholic church.

The move did not stop attacks, however, with Islamist sect Boko Haram targeting more Christians and a regional police headquarters in recent days, heightening fears of widespread religious violence in Africa's most populous nation.

"Following spates of attacks in some parts of the state, the government hereby imposes a 24-hour curfew throughout the state," Adamawa state government secretary Kobis Ari said late Saturday afternoon.

More than 30 Christians were gunned down in three separate attacks attributed to Boko Haram in Adamawa state and neighboring Gombe state, which were not covered by the president's state of emergency.

Eleven worshippers were killed Friday evening at a church in Adamawa's state capital Yola, and around 20 others were shot dead in Mubi town in the same state.

On Thursday evening, gunmen stormed a church in Gombe city and opened fire as worshippers prayed, killing six people including the pastor's wife.

A purported spokesman of Boko Haram last Sunday ordered Christians to leave the mainly Muslim north for the predominantly Christian south within three days.

Soldiers and police have deployed in Yola, erecting checkpoints at strategic positions, state police spokeswoman Altine Daniel said.

In Potiskum, further north in Yobe state, hundreds of residents fled their homes Saturday after fierce all-night gun battles between Islamists and security forces.

A policeman and a civilian were killed when the gunmen robbed three banks, according to residents. They said people had fled parts of Potiskum for fear of military raids in the aftermath of the attack.

"Our men engaged Boko Haram gunmen in shootouts for most of the night, which led to some deaths and injuries," Yobe state police commissioner Lawan Tanko said.

Boko Haram, whose name means "Western education is forbidden", is a shadowy group believed to have a number of factions with differing aims, including a hard-core Islamist wing.

It launched an uprising in 2009 that was put down by a brutal military assault which left some 800 people dead.

Since the group re-emerged in 2010, it has been blamed for increasingly sophisticated and deadly attacks, including an August suicide bombing of U.N. headquarters in Abuja that killed 25.