By Franca Gbabo and Kate Thomas –
ABUJA, Nigeria — At least six people were killed and more than 50 injured Sunday when two churches in Nigeria attacked by unknown assailants.
Authorities said at least five churchgoers were killed in a suicide blast around 11 a.m. as they left a Sunday service in the central city of Jos.
Police said more than 52 worshippers were injured by the explosion, which destroyed the Christ Chosen Church of God
The church’s pastor and his family were reported by local media to be critically injured in hospital.
Emeka Obi, a witness, said the bomb was detonated by a suicide bomber who drove a car into the entrance of the church.
In a separate attack in the town of Biu in Borno state, gunmen opened fire, spraying bullets into the congregation of a church. Police said scores were injured and a woman died.
No group claimed responsibility for the blasts. Last year, the radical Islamist sect Boko Haram scaled up its attacks on churches, killing dozens in coordinated Christmas Day blasts that hit churchgoers close to Abuja, the capital.
