Nigeria Arrests 158 Islamist Militant Suspects After Weekend Attacks

Religion Today | Updated: Sep 21, 2012

Nigeria Arrests 158 Islamist Militant Suspects After Weekend Attacks

January 24, 2012

Three days after bombings and a shooting spree by militant Islamist group Boko Haram left more than 200 people dead in northern Nigeria, a joint military task force arrested 158 suspected members of the group, CNN reports. "A terrorist attack on one person is an attack on all of us," Nigerian president Goodluck Jonathan said. A leader of the Christian Association of Nigeria said he believed the attacks were just the beginning of a campaign of religious cleansing in Nigeria's predominantly Muslim north. He called on the government to take strong measures to protect Christians, but "also pointed out that there are people within the Nigerian government, the Nigerian security, who have collaborated with Boko Haram, and that makes it very hard for the government to protect its own people," said Jonathan Racho of International Christian Concern. In addition to killing hundreds of Christians in recent weeks, Boko Haram has taken credit for murdering many moderate Muslims as well.



Nigeria Arrests 158 Islamist Militant Suspects After Weekend Attacks