Explosion rips through church near Nigeria capital

An explosion ripped through a Catholic church during Christmas Mass near Nigeria’s capital Sunday, causing unknown deaths and injuries amid a wave of sectarian attacks targeting Africa's most populous nation. Local police spokesman Richard Oguche said the blast struck St. Theresa Church in Madalla, a town in Niger state close to the capital, Abuja. Oguche said he had no other details and was driving to the scene of the explosion. It was not immediately known what had caused the explosion or how many people were injured. Nigeria’s National Emergency Management Agency, however, sent a text message to journalists warning it did not immediately have enough ambulances to begin ferrying the wounded to hospital. At least 10 corpses had been found at the scene shortly after the blast, with officials still searching through the debris, said Yushau Shuaib, a spokesman for NEMA. His agency already acknowledged it didn’t have enough ambulances immediately on hand to help the wounded. AFP is putting the death toll at 27. “The evacuation exercise is still going on as military personnel provide security cover to rescue officers providing humanitarian services due to the tension in the area from angry crowd,” Shuaib said in a statement. The explosion comes amid a wave of attacks in Nigeria by a radical Muslim sect known as Boko Haram. In the last year, the sect has carried out increasingly bloody attacks in its campaign to implement strict Shariah law across Nigeria, a nation of more than 160 million people with a largely Christian south and a Muslim north. Last year, a series of Christmas Eve bombings in the central Nigerian city of Jos claimed by Boko Haram killed at least 32 people and wounded at least 74 others. Previously, Boko Haram has been blamed for other bombings in Niger state, including attacks on an election office, a political rally and a church. Several days of fighting in the northeast between the sect and security forces killed at least 61 people, authorities have said. In the last year, the sect has carried out increasingly bloody attacks in its campaign to implement strict Shariah law across Nigeria, a nation of more than 160 million people with a largely Christian south and a Muslim north.