--- description: A remarkably violent week came to a close in the Nigerian town of Potiskum with a July 5 suicide bombing in a church that killed five. title: Four Dead in Nigeria Suicide Bombing, Capping Violent Week image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt67ee21ddb014fd7e/698859a20b72e32c9d6e4cde/ap_892854946311.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Nigeria](/tag/nigeria/) ## Nigeria Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Fresh Horror in Nigeria After Bloody Week That Claimed Almost 250 Lives by [Alissa Greenberg](/author/alissa-greenberg/) ## Alissa Greenberg Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Updated: Dec 13, 2023 5:21 AM CUTPublished: Jul 6, 2015 4:02 AM CUT  People gather around the Redeemed Christian Church of God, after a bomb blast in Potiskum, Nigeria, Sunday, July 5, 2015 People gather around the Redeemed Christian Church of God, after a bomb blast in Potiskum, Nigeria, Sunday, July 5, 2015Adamu Adamu Damaturu—AP by [Alissa Greenberg](/author/alissa-greenberg/) ## Alissa Greenberg Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Updated: Dec 13, 2023 5:21 AM CUTPublished: Jul 6, 2015 4:02 AM CUT A suicide bombing at a church in Potiskum on Sunday, and dual explosions in the central city of Jos in the early hours of Monday morning local time, have shaken Nigeria and mark the end of a week of atrocities in the embattled country that has left more than 200 dead. The explosions in Jos, at a mosque and a popular restaurant, killed 44 people and wounded 67 early morning July 6, the AP [reports](http://time.com/3946233/boko-haram-jos-nigeria-dead/ "undefined"). Witnesses said the bombing at Yantaya Mosque took place during a lecture by a leading cleric famous for preaching peaceful co-existence. The second bomb exploded at Shagalinku, a restaurant known to cater to the political elite. No one has claimed responsibility for the church blast in Potiskum, which killed a priest and four congregants, but it is consistent with past attacks attributed to militant Islamist group Boko Haram, CNN reports. Potiskum has recently been the focus of Boko Haram violence; in January, three people were killed and 43 hurt during a bombing in a market, and the next week another attack left four dead and 48 hurt at a bus station. Another bus station was attacked in February, killing 17, and in May the town’s College of Administrative and Business Studies was targeted. Jos is also often a target for violence, as it sits on the fault line between the country’s Christian south and Muslim north. Additionally, this past week has seen what new Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari described as a “heinous” burst of violence, the BBC [reports](http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-33401810 "undefined"), including suicide bombings in two small Borno villages, the killing of 97 people near Lake Chad, and 48 men shot dead in two villages near Monguno. Amnesty International estimates that more than 17,000 people have been killed since 2009 in violence involving Boko Haram. \[[BBC](http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-33401810 "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3946134/terrorism-boko-haram-nigeria-radical-islam-caliphate-suicide-bombing/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3946134/terrorism-boko-haram-nigeria-radical-islam-caliphate-suicide-bombing/"},"headline":"Fresh Horror in Nigeria After Bloody Week That Claimed Almost 250 Lives","datePublished":"2015-07-06T04:02:28.000Z","dateModified":"2023-12-13T05:21:43.000Z","description":"Some 17,000 people have died in violence related to Boko Haram since 2009","url":"https://time.com/3946134/terrorism-boko-haram-nigeria-radical-islam-caliphate-suicide-bombing/","keywords":["Nigeria","Terrorism","Boko Haram"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt67ee21ddb014fd7e/698859a20b72e32c9d6e4cde/ap_892854946311.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alissa Greenberg","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alissa-greenberg/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt67ee21ddb014fd7e/698859a20b72e32c9d6e4cde/ap_892854946311.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Nigeria Boko Haram","caption":"Nigeria Boko Haram","creditText":"Adamu Adamu Damaturu—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/nigeria/","name":"Nigeria"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3946134/terrorism-boko-haram-nigeria-radical-islam-caliphate-suicide-bombing/","name":"Fresh Horror in Nigeria After Bloody Week That Claimed Almost 250 Lives"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Who Is The Leader Of Boko Haram?","description":"Who Is The Leader Of Boko Haram?","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/D9jtIA2G/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-05-08T14:49:42.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/D9jtIA2G.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3946134/terrorism-boko-haram-nigeria-radical-islam-caliphate-suicide-bombing/","duration":"PT2M13S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3946134/terrorism-boko-haram-nigeria-radical-islam-caliphate-suicide-bombing/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```