MADALLA – A bomb blast claimed by Islamists at a church outside the Nigeria capital on Christmas Day has killed at least 35, an emergency official said, raising the nationwide toll from a wave of attacks to 40.

“The death toll is 35,” said Slaku Lugard of the National Emergency Management Agency of the bomb blast at St. Theresa Catholic Church in Madalla , Suleja, outside the capital Abuja.

A wave of attacks swept across Nigeria on Christmas Day, with three churches affected and a secret police office targeted by a suicide bomber, leaving at least 40 killed nationwide.