Prayers turn to rage after Nigeria church blasts

ABUJA (Reuters) - Christmas prayers turned into rage, sadness and confusion on Sunday after explosions rocked several churches in Nigeria, killing at least 28 people.

An angry crowd formed amidst the smoldering ash and twisted metal remains of cars outside St. Theresa Catholic Church near the capital Abuja, the first church hit, as a Christian cleric urged people not to take vengeance.

"Go home and let the authorities do their work," Reverend Isaac Achi told the crowd. "I pray the people doing this will stop and repent. Do not become violent over this."

Casualties from the attack were carried to a nearby theatre and other makeshift hospitals as ambulances picked up those with the worst wounds. Men set fire to tires on the road leading to the capital in protest over the attacks.

"We are reacting like this because we are angry, in fact over-angry," said visibly shaken resident Kingsley Ukpabi.

Islamist militant group Boko Haram, which wants to impose Islamic sharia law across a nation of 160 million split roughly between Christians and Muslims, claimed responsibility for the attacks, which also hit churches in at least two northern towns.

A crater one meter (3 feet) deep scarred the road outside St. Theresa church, where worshippers said the bomb blew up as people streamed out after morning mass. At least 27 were killed.

Debris and bodies littered the road immediately after the blast, in scenes of chaos overlooked by a slightly damaged crucifix attached to the church.

"I want to know if my wife is dead or alive," a man yelled as he tried to enter the area holding dead and wounded. Soldiers in fatigues guarded a security perimeter.

A young woman standing outside the church began beating herself and wailing, and then threw herself to the ground after being told of the death of a relative.

One man, badly burnt, writhed in pain in a small corridor near the church as an onlooker snapped a picture with his camera phone. The man's charred boots lay beside him.

A second blast struck near a church in the volatile central city of Jos during Christmas prayers, killing at least one policeman, said a military spokesman, Charles Ezoecha. He added that some attackers had been arrested with unexploded devices.

Terrified churchgoers said assailants fought a gunbattle with troops and police before blowing up some vehicles near the church.

"We were holding a service when we heard the gunshots. When I came out I heard an explosion," said Owukajo Oyebuchi.

Spencer Dike, another resident, asked: "If these people (Boko Haram) have problems with the government, what is the business of churches in all this?"

(Writing by Richard Valdmanis; Editing by Alistair Lyon)