AJC Condemns Deadly Terrorist Attacks on Churches in Nigeria

NEW YORK, Dec. 25, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- AJC expressed outrage and revulsion at the deadly terrorist attacks that targeted Christian worshipers in Nigeria on Christmas Day and killed at least 25 people.

(Logo:  http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20100816/AJCLOGO )

Several churches, including St. Theresa Catholic Church in Madalla and Mountain of Fire and Miracles Church in Jos, were attacked. A Muslim group, Boko Haram, has claimed responsibility. The same group, which, according to a New York Times account, seeks "to install strict Shariah or Muslim law across Nigeria," was also identified as the perpetrator of another wave of anti-Christian attacks during Christmas last year that killed more than 30 people.

"AJC, which for over a century has been profoundly committed to defending religious freedom, condemns these despicable attacks on Christian worshipers gathered to celebrate their holy day of Christmas," said AJC Executive Director David Harris. "All people of goodwill, and especially all religious leaders of goodwill, should stand together in full solidarity with the victims and in unambiguous opposition to those who would kill and maim in the name of their own perverted faith."

"We pray for the full recovery of the injured," Harris added, "and for the arrest and prosecution, to the full extent of the law in Nigeria, of those who planned and implemented these hate-filled, anti-Christian terrorist attacks."

www.ajc.org

SOURCE American Jewish Committee