Story

Aftermath of Boko Haram Christmas Day Bombings

April 04, 2012 | Pulitzer Center
By
Bénédicte Kurzen, for the Pulitzer Center, Nigeria

A female Civil Defense officer stands in front of the St. Theresa Catholic Church after the Christmas Day bombing in Madalla. Image by Bénédicte Kurzen. Nigeria, 2011.

A soldier guards the access to the bombing site in Madalla. Image by Bénédicte Kurzen. Nigeria, 2011.

People gather in front of St. Theresa Catholic Church in Madalla. Image by Bénédicte Kurzen. Nigeria, 2011.

Neighbors look through the window into the yard of Ocheniya Daniel, who lost her 22-year-old son Joseph Inalegu. The boy bled to death at the hospital. The family lives one block from the St. Theresa Catholic Church in Madalla. Image by Bénédicte Kurzen. Nigeria, 2011.

A man stands in front of St. Theresa Catholic church in Madalla. Image by Bénédicte Kurzen. Nigeria, 2011.

Children play outside while waiting for their parents to finish packing, as the family prepares to move after the bombing in Madalla. Image by Bénédicte Kurzen. Nigeria, 2011.

A man who lives across the street from St Theresa Catholic Church is moving out after part of his roof collapsed in the explosion in Madalla. Image by Bénédicte Kurzen. Nigeria, 2011.

A woman who lives across the street from St. Theresa Catholic Church is moving out after the Christmas Day explosion destroyed part of her roof. Image by Bénédicte Kurzen. Nigeria, 2011.

A woman gathers her belongings as she prepares to move after the bombing destroyed part of her house in Madalla. Image by Bénédicte Kurzen. Nigeria, 2011.

A soldier walks away from the scene at St. Theresa Catholic Church in Madalla. Image by Bénédicte Kurzen. Nigeria, 2011.

The Christian Association of Nigeria leaders sit and pray at the St. Theresa Catholic Church in Madalla. Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor of the Word of Life Bible Church (second from the left) is the president of the association. Image by Bénédicte Kurzen. Nigeria, 2011.

People stand and stare at the CAN (Christian Association of Nigeria) members who came to visit St Theresa Catholic Church in Madalla. Image by Bénédicte Kurzen. Nigeria, 2011.

A man prays in St. Theresa Catholic Church in Madalla. Image by Bénédicte Kurzen. Nigeria, 2011.

Suspected terrorists were arrested by the army after an attack on Mountain of Fire and Miracles Church in Jos, Plateau District, on Christmas Day, 2011. One policeman died in the shoot-out. Image by Bénédicte Kurzen. Nigeria, 2011.

The 2011 Christmas Day attacks in Madalla, Suleja District, Nigeria, killed more than 30 people as they filed out of St. Theresa Catholic Church after mass. The Islamist militant group Boko Haram, which claimed responsibility for the attack, also set off four other bombs elsewhere in the country, but the blast in Madalla, located about 25 miles from the capital city of Abuja, was the deadliest that day. In the surrounding neighborhood several Nigerian homes sustained massive damages. The collapsed roofs and fragile structures forced many families to pack their belongings and move away.