At least 11 churches were burnt in Maiduguri, capital of Nigeria’s northern Borno state, during the four-day violence blamed on the fundamentalist Islamic sect Boko Haram (Western education is taboo) last week, according to Christian officials in the city.
In a statement issued by Rev. Fr. Heladuwa John William, Diocesan Administrator, Catholic Diocese of Maiduguri, he said had appealed to the Borno State government to pay compensation to the churches, allegedly burnt by t he Boko Haram zealots.
Rev. Fr. William listed the affected churches as St Joseph a?s Catholic Church Gamboru Ngala, St. Michaela?s Catholic Church Railway, Maiduguri, and nine Protestant and Pentecostal churches.
“One seems to get the impression that the recent crises in Maiduguri metropolis are not religious crises. Nevertheless, this is not realistic as eleven (11) churches were involved,” he said in the statement.
The Catholic Priest said contrary to the official death toll of over 700, the number of those who died in the fighting was between 1,500 and 3,000. He did not say how he arrived at the figure.
President Umaru Yar’Adua ordered a crackdown on the sect after it launched an attack against the police in Bauchi state, and the violence spread to four others states in the predominantly-Muslim northern Nigeria.
The epicentre of the violonce was Maiduguri, the base of the sect that was led by 39-year-old Muhammed Yusuf,. where soldiers fought a four-day battle with the sect members, leaving hundreds dead and about 4,000 displaced.
Yusuf, who was arrested by the troops and handed over to the police, died in controversial circumstances while in police custody, while his enclave was pulverised by massive shellings from the soldiers.
The bodies of most of the victims of the violence have since been given a mass burial.