Nigeria Christians To Defend Against Muslim Sect

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — The leader of Nigeria’s main umbrella group for Christians says its members will defend themselves as attacks by a radical Muslim sect continue.

Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor of the Christian Association of Nigeria gave the warning Saturday to journalists in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital. It comes as members of a radical Muslim sect known as Boko Haram have carried out new attacks targeting Christians in Nigeria’s Muslim north.

Oritsejafor said: “We have decided to work out ways of protecting ourselves.”

That raises the possibility of retaliatory violence between Muslims and Christians in Nigeria, a multiethnic nation of more than 160 million people.