A suicide bomber blew himself up outside a Catholic church in central Nigeria yesterday, killing seven people and sparking panic in which security forces shot three others dead.

It was the second suicide attack on a church in the flashpoint central city of Jos in two weeks, after a February 26 attack claimed by Islamist sect Boko Haram killed three people and injured dozens.

Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan condemned Sunday’s bombing and reaffirmed his government’s determination “to end the spate of mindless attacks and killings”.

Jos, a faultline in Nigeria’s Muslim-Christian divide between north and south, was tense in the aftermath of the bombing amid fears of a reprise of deadly riots which followed last month’s attack.

“There are rumours of reprisals from Christian youths, but we hope the security agents are on top of the situation as they have cordoned off the area,” said Alhassan Danjuma Aliyu of the National Emergency Management Agency (Nema).

Worshippers were filing out from Sunday Mass in St Finbar’s Catholic church when the suicide bomber crashed his bomb-laden car into the gate, killing seven people and leaving a dozen others dazed and injured on the ground, Plateau State government spokesman Pam Ayuba said.

Three men were then shot as security forces fired on a crowd of onlookers who gathered after the blast.