President of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor said the association is saddened by the explosions in Kano where many people were killed and others injured.

Oritsejafor's spokesman Kenny Ashaka, in a statement yesterday, said the CAN president is particularly traumatised by the unreported news from Biu in Borno State that 16 Christians were handcuffed and burnt to death by members of the Boko Haram sect within the precinct of a church on Sunday, a day before one of the explosions in Kano.

The Biu incident took place at the Christ Salvation Pentecostal Church at the peak of evening worship, he said.

"On behalf of CAN the president commiserates with the victims of the bomb attack, the families and friends of those who lost their lives in the Kano and Biu tragedies and insists that these happenings are a further confirmation that the primary targets of the Boko Haram sect are Christians and their churches," he said.

Pastor Oritsejafor advised that with these twin incidents, the federal government should consider the handshake to Boko Haram as having extended beyond the elbow.

He noted that Boko Haram sect is becoming more untrustworthy and that the latest killing of Christians in their places of worship has further stirred the sensibilities of the people.