OUTPOURING of condemnation  from the Christian community, yesterday,  greeted the deadly Christmas eve bomb blasts in  Jos.

According to some Christian leaders, the  Federal Government could have nipped the attacks in the bud since there had been rumours of a pending violent disruption during the Christmas celebrations over a month ago.

The Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, and all the Christian leaders including the Prelate, Methodist Church Nigeria, His Eminence Sunday Ola Makinde and CAN chairman in charge of north central, Rev. Yakubu Pam, who spoke on  the development,  held the Federal Government culpable for the blasts.

In a telephone reaction, the National President of CAN, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, the Federal Government, which is the only constitutional government that can handle the perennial sectarian crises in the north, had not developed enough political will to deal with the issue.

According to him, if sponsors of past ethno-religious crises had been identified and prosecuted in accordance with the laws of the land, the Friday  bombings could have been averted, stressing that each there is an eruption, a panel is set up which often submits its reports with much funfair and promises to deal with the remote causes of the crises.

Oritsejafor pointed out that no sooner the dusts die down than government and  the security outfits who are privy to the  reports  go to sleep, stressing that the blasts  were likely to be the handiwork of disgruntled politicians determined to cause mayhem in the country before the 2011 elections.

The CAN president therefore appealed to Christian youths to remain calm and go about their lawful duties whenever it was safe for them to do so, noting, “I have always urged Christians to defend themselves whenever they come under any attack, but the situation on hand is dicey and must be handled with maturity.”

Also speaking in a telephone interview, the Methodist prelate described the attacks as unfortunate and senseless killings of innocent human beings which, according to him, have become a recurring decimal in Jos.

According to Makinde, government should  take a decisive action and go beyond the prosecution of inconsequential  youths to deal with the real perpetrators of the religious crises in the north once and for all.

Rev. Pam, in his reaction, said he could not go to  church, yesterday,  Christmas day because there was  tension in every part of Jos, stating that  “the attack had succeeded in robbing Christians in the Plateau State capital the joy of Christmas.”

He  blamed the Federal Government for foot-dragging in dealing with the issues involved while innocent citizens are daily being mauled down for no just cause, adding “government had never taken the issues seriously.”

Confirming that there had been rumours of an impending attack ahead of Christmas, Pam said the internal crisis in the PDP as well as the inordinate struggle for power in  Plateau State are some of the reasons for the current crisis, noting that in a democracy, people have misunderstandings and such misunderstandings are resolved speedily before they escalate to major catastrophes.