By Rafiu Ajakaye
LAGOS
Christians in Nigeria's northwestern Kaduna State have accused "Islamic fundamentalists" of targeting their community and killing at least 300 of them in recent months.
"We stand by our accounts of the killing spree in Sanga [local government area] by terrorists who have targeted Christians, their homes and churches since June," Reverend Fadan Amana, chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN)'s Sanga chapter, told Anadolu Agency on Tuesday.
"We have chronicled these murders and submitted a petition to the governor," he said. "Over 300 Christian lives have been wasted through these attacks."
Amana said the Christian community had submitted its petition to Governor Mukhtar Yero when he came to offer his condolences on Monday.
"A careful consideration of the attacks that have been launched on various communities in Sanga from June 23 to the most recent one, which occurred on September 16 and 17, has clearly revealed that these attacks were carefully planned and carried out by some terrorist Islamic fundamentalists, mainly on Christians within the local government," according to the petition, a copy of which was seen by AA.
"We must clearly state that these sad, ugly and unprovoked attacks have over-stretched the patience of the Christian community in Sanga… to engage us in religious war, which is not in our nature and tradition as Christians," it added.
Kaduna has witnessed repeated acts of violence in recent months, including the murder of prominent Salafist scholar Muhammad Albani (Zaria).
Prominent Sufi scholar Sheikh Dairu Bauchi survived a suicide attack in which scores were killed.
Muhammadu Buhari, a former Nigerian military ruler, also survived a similar attack.
A number of other recent deadly attacks in the area have claimed dozens of lives.
The attacks have been blamed on Boko Haram, which many claim operates sleeper cells in northern Nigeria – as opposed to the country's northeastern region, where over 20 towns remain under the group's self-declared "Islamic caliphate."
Boko Haram, which means "Western education is forbidden" in Nigeria's local Hausa language, first emerged in the early 2000s preaching against government misrule and corruption.
The group later became violent, however, after the death of its leader in 2009 while in police custody.
In the five years since, the group has been blamed for numerous attacks – on places of worship and government institutions – and thousands of deaths.
Boko Haram has been outlawed by Nigeria, Turkey and the U.S.
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