1st November, 2012
The Islamist group Boko Haram has claimed a series of attacks on churches in the north and centre of the country, in which scores of people have been killed. It also regularly targets state representatives, including police and army officers, as well as Muslim leaders.
Violence linked to the Boko Haram insurgency has left more than 2,800 people dead since 2009, including killings by the security forces, according to Human Rights Watch.
Following are the main attacks on churches since late 2011 in Nigeria:
2011: November 4: A series of attacks on police targets and churches in the northeastern city of Damaturu kills at least 150 people.
•December 25: A wave of attacks claimed by the group targeting churches during Christmas services and police leave at least 49 people dead. The bloodiest attack is against a church near the capital Abuja, with 44 dead.
2012: January 6: Gunmen open fire on mourners at a church in the northeastern town of Mubi, killing 17. At least 10 are killed in an attack on a church at Yola.
•March 11: At least 10 people are killed in a suicide attack on a church in the central city of Jos. It was the second deadly attack on a Jos church claimed by the group in two weeks.
•April 8: At least 41 people are killed in a bomb attack near a church in the northern city of Kaduna.
•April 29: Around 20 people are killed in a bomb and gun attack during religious services at a university in Kano.
•June 3: A suicide bomber tries to drive an explosives-packed car into a church in Bauchi State in northern Nigeria killing at least 15 people, including himself.
•June 17 and following days: Multiple church bombings in Kaduna state and subsequent rioting by Christian and Muslim mobs, along with clashes between security forces and suspected Islamist extremists in the northeast, kill at least 100 people.
•August 6: Gunmen open fire on an evangelical church during a service in central Nigeria, killing at least 19 people.
•September 23: A suicide bomber kills at least two people and injures 40 others in an attack on a Catholic church in the northern city of Bauchi.
•October 28: A suicide attack on St Rita’s Catholic church in Kaduna kills at least seven people plus the bomber and wounds 145 others. Three people are killed in reprisal attacks, including a man burnt alive by a Christian mob.
•Culled from AFP