Tag: Explosions

Jos, the Plateau State capital, yesterday witnessed a simultaneous twin bomb explosions.

Scores of students of the University of Jos (UNIJOS) were feared killed as the explosions occurred directly opposite the main campus of the university.

This is the third time Jos city has experienced twin-bomb explosions within a year.

The explosions occurred amidst heavy rainfall between 4pm and 6pm.

One of the explosions occurred at a motor park directly opposite the main campus on Bauchi Road. The second went off about 100 meters away, close to a military checkpoint but within the vicinity of the main campus.

Students resumed last week for their second semester examinations after a three-month closure as a result of a riot.

It was difficult to officially ascertain the number of casualties involved but eyewitnesses said no fewer than 12 bodies were seen being taken away from the scenes. There were fears that students who coming out of examination halls might have been affected.

Plateau police confirmed the explosions. Its spokesman Abu Emmanuel said: “It is true there were twin explosions but we are yet to gather details of casualties. Our men are there on a rescue operation. They will reveal the casualty figure at the end of the mission.

As information about the blast spread, residents ran for safety to avoid the unknown.

Another suicide bomber has attacked and killed scores of people at a check-point in Biu, 185 kilometres south of Maiduguri, the state capital.

 The bomber was said to have targeted a crowded place Tashan Gandu, a converging area for daily paid labourers waiting to be hired by rich farmers.

  Last Tuesday, twin suicide bombers on a tricycle attacked a military checkpoint along Miringa- Biu road, on the outskirts of the town, killing 14 people mostly female hawkers. Many others were injured.

 An eye witness, Msheliza, told our correspondent on telephone that the suicide bomber maneuvered security checks and found his way to the area located a few metres away from the NEPA/PHCN office and the Church of Brethren in Nigeria (E.Y.N church) before detonating his explosive wrapped body leaving many pool in pool of blood.

 Msheliza said the body of the suicide bomber was torn into pieces.

 A member of the Biu Youth volunteer otherwise called Civilian JTF  who was part of the rescue operation said the attack was targeted at a checkpoint mounted by their members at the  Tashan Gandu motor park.

He said 15 bodies had been recovered while the injured were taken to the Biu General Hospital.

A source at the Biu hospital told our correspondent on telephone that 19 people were brought dead from the scene, adding that 17 others were being attended to.

Yesterday, Cameroon officials said the country’s prisons were overcrowded with suspected Boko Haram men under arrest following the spilling of the extremists’ activities to the neigbouring country.

According to officials, 30 000 people had been detained in 25 prisons in Cameroon since May 2014. That number is up from 22,000. The Cameroon Human Rights Commission said prisons were crammed with six times more people than their capacity allows.

It said more soldiers were needed to stop inmates from making endless attempts to break out of jail. Boko Haram has been recruiting fighters from Cameroon, Niger and Chad.

A twin-explosion in Jos, the Plateau State capital yesterday killed no fewer than 32 people.

The death toll was recorded in the second explosion. Casualties from the first blast could not be ascertained as at last night.

The bombs exploded at about 6.54 pm near a bus station.

The explosions were heard two minutes of each other and about the same location the last bomb blast took place on May 20. More than 100 people died in that blast.

The scene of explosions is usually of heavy human traffic. One blast occurred near an eatery, the second near the branch of a major bank, by the main market

Security agencies who also heard the heavy sound of the explosions rushed towards the scene. They were yet to reveal the casualty list from the explosions beleived to have been carried out by suicide bombers.

Female suicide bombers struck in Kano on Tuesday, killing six people at the Textile market.

Mohammed Abdulsalam, coordinator for the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) in the city, said the scene of the attack was a densely populated area.

“The bodies recovered so far are 31 but rescue workers are at the scene and the figures may change,” added Pam Ayuba, Plateau State Governor Jonah Jang’s spokesman.

In Kano, a senior security source and a nurse said a 13-year-old was arrested on Wednesday after she and a male accomplice walked into a clinic seeking medical treatment.

The location of the clinic — some 20 kilometres (12.5 miles) from the scene of a double suicide attack by two women on a textile market just hours earlier – raised suspicions.

“We alerted the police who immediately mobilised and arrested the duo,” said one nurse, who asked to remain anonymous for security reasons.

“On searching her, the police discovered explosives hidden under her hijab, confirming our suspicion. They took her and the man accompanying her away.”

The senior security source said the young girl was from Bauchi and had been part of the “suicide team” that attacked the busy Kantin Kwari textile bazaar.

Four people were killed in that attack and seven others injured.

The Central Mosque located within the Emir’s Palace in Kano witnessed a major tragedy yesterday as triple bomb attacks by the Boko Haram sect left no fewer than 120 worshippers dead.

Bloodstains, mangled bodies and charred wrekage of vehicles and motorcycles characterised the mosque after the incident that has recorded the highest death toll since the sect launched its attacks on the nation.

The larger metropolis was left to mourn  the  scores of worshippers feared to have been killed in the triple bomb explosions which occurred  midway into the weekly Juma’at prayers.

About 128 other worshippers were believed to have been injured.

A similar bomb attack by the same sect was averted at the Customs Market, Gamboru, Maiduguri after vigilante youths alerted the police about two Improvised Explosive Devices planted at the market.

The Northern States Governors Forum (NSGF)  deplored the attack which came a week after the Emir of Kano,Alhaji  Muhammadu Sanusi  11  challenged  Northerners to resist  Boko Haram.

The Emir, who  sometimes leads worshippers in prayers at the mosque, was out of town yesterday.

The Northern Governors  said  that the  security challenge in the North has taken a turn for the worse  as no one,including traditional rulers, is spared by the  insurgents.

The Chief  Imam of Kano, Prof Sani Zaharadeen,  was in the process of delivering his sermon  at about 2.15 pm when the bombs began to go off one after the other.

Two of the bombs were planted inside the mosque and the other outside.

“Three bombs were planted in the courtyard to the mosque and they went off simultaneously,” a security source who declined to be named said.

A staff member at the palace who also witnessed the attack said: “After multiple explosions, they also opened fire. I cannot tell you the casualty figure because we all ran away.”

Angry youths blocked the mosque’s gates to the police, who had to disperse them with tear gas to gain entry.

 No official casualty figure was immediately available but sources involved in evacuating victims said between 65 and 100 people might have lost their lives.

Deputy Police Public Relations Officer in the state, ASP Abubakar Mustapha,  said  on the phone  that the police were yet to ascertain the casualty figure.

Governor Rabi’u Kwankwaso was  out of town as were Police  Commissioner  Adenrele Shinaba and the  Police Public Relations officer, Musa Magaji Majia, both of whom were said to have travelled to Dubai to collect awards as the best Police Commissioner and best PPRO in Nigeria respectively.

The Force Headquarters said the attack was carried out by suicide bombers.

The explosions sparked a stampede by terrified worshippers.

The sky immediately turned black against the background of the smoke emitted by the explosions.

The sight of so many dead bodies seemed to have provoked  the people who started hauling stones at security agents who arrived the scene soon after the incident.

They cordoned off  the area  as a prelude to the commencement of investigation into the incident and evacuation of the wounded to the hospital and the dead to the mortuary.

The Boko Haram insurgency has displaced over one million people during its campaign the Red Cross said yesterday, an increase on a September U.N. refugee agency estimate of 700,000.

Islamic leaders sometimes shy away from direct criticism of Boko Haram for fear of reprisals. But Sanusi, angered by atrocities such as the kidnapping of 200 schoolgirls from  Chibok in April, has been increasingly vocal.

He was quoted  last week as saying: “These people, when they attack towns, they kill boys and enslave girls. People must stand resolute … They should acquire what they can to defend themselves. People must not wait for soldiers to protect them.”

The immediate past Emir of Kano, Alhaji Ado Bayero , was ambushed by Boko Haram insurgents in early 2013.

He narrowly escaped death in the incident.

An  official of one of the rescue agencies said 64 bodies had been brought to just one Kano area hospital after the attack  and the wounded figure reflected statistics from three hospitals.

Force Headquarters spokesman, Mr.Emmanuel Ojukwu,  said yesterday that the attack was carried out by two suicide bombers and gunmen who opened fire on people trying to flee to safety.

After the assailants blew themselves up in succession at the Grand Mosque in Kano, “gunmen opened fire on those who were trying to escape,” Ojukwu told AFP.

The Deputy Governor of Kano State, Dr Abdullahi Ganduje, commiserated with the families of those who died in the blasts.

Ganduje, who described the incident as very unfortunate, prayed for the quick recovery of those who sustained injuries in the blasts.

The deputy governor called on the people of the state to continue to pray to God to prevent future occurrence.

“It is unfortunate that the ugly incident is happening when the state has started enjoying relative peace.

“We should continue to pray for the sustenance of peace in our state and the country at large,’’ he said.