LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - The city of Kaduna has been tense following the 2011 elections when riots killed nearly 700 people. Some resident say the violence was political in nature, but it has also been fueled by religious lines, deepening distrust between Muslims and Christians.
 
After churches were bombed in Zaria and Kaduna city, two cities that are still recovering from last year's carnage, riots broke out in Kaduna.
 
Nigerian Professor of Criminology Femi Odekunle says increasing violence in Nigeria may have religious overtones, but the root of the problem is increasing poverty and the unequal distribution of resources in Nigeria, which is Africa's most populous nation and biggest oil exporter.

"I am just telling you the inequality, political, economic, and social, even in terms of the legal administration of criminal justice. The inequality is there," Odekunle says.

Calm is returning to the city as the Nigerian Red Cross reports that rescue operations are ongoing.
 
The Islamist militant group, Boko Haram has taken responsibility for similar, earlier attacks. The group is tied to church bombings on Christmas day that killed more than 40 people, and a church bombing early this month in Bauchi that left 15 dead.
 
Boko Haram is blamed for more than 1,000 deaths since it began violent operations in 2009, attacking security forces, churches, schools, government buildings, newspaper offices and market places.

Authorities fear that a breakdown of the deaths will trigger revenge killings. Most of the victims killed in church are presumed to be Christian and most of those killed in reprisal attacks are presumed to be Muslim, raising concerns that a distinction between initial and reprisal deaths will be interpreted as a Christian and Muslim breakdown.

At about 5 p.m. Monday, men armed with bombs and guns launched attacks in Damaturu, the capital of Yobe state about 450 miles north of Kaduna, said Yobe state police chief Patrick Egbuniwe. It was not immediately clear what parts of Damaturu were attacked, whether there were any casualties, or whether the violence could have been linked to the killings in Kaduna.

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