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Over 100 dead in Kano blasts •Attack was to avenge our members’ arrest –Boko Haram •We will hunt them down –Jonathan •Scale of attacks appalling, shocking –British Foreign Secretary •Treat victims free –Kano Gov orders all hospitals

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Written by Kola Oyelere, Kano Sunday, 22 January 2012

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Following the deadly bomb explosions that rocked Kano, Nigeria’s second largest city, on Friday, over 100 people have been reported dead, as foreign media organisations gave varying figures of the number of casualties who have died in the explosion. According to the Associated Press, quoting an unnamed rescue worker, the tally of the dead stood at 121 as of Saturday afternoon.

However, Aljazeera reported a slightly higher toll as it said that the death toll from the multiple explosions had reached 140, while the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), quoting its reporter in Kano, revealed that he had counted up to 150 dead bodies.

Aljazeera quoted a certain Maude Gwadabe, a journalist in Kano, who said the disparity was due to confusion in the aftermath of Friday’s attacks and that victims had been taken to different hospitals, homes and treatment clinics.

“At least 140 people died. The Red Cross and Nigerian emergency services have collected the victims and brought them to one hospital (Murtala Central Hospital) and, indeed, hospital officials say 140 people were killed,” Gwadabe was quoted to have told Aljazeera.

However, SkyNews said 162 people lost their lives in the attacks.

Meanwhile, just as the Jama’atu Ahlis Sunnati Lidda’awati Wal Jihad, popularly known as the Boko Haram, claimed responsibility for the coordinated bomb explosions, Soldiers and Air Force men have taken over the state to complement efforts of the Nigerian Police in ensuring peace and averting breakdown of law and order.

This is just as the corpse of Channels Television reporter, the  late Enenche Akogwu, was yet to be located as of press time.

However, the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Kano State Council, said efforts were on to locate his corpse and remove his car from where he parked it before the sad incident occured
Speaking with journalists on telephone, spokesman for the group, Abul Qaqa, claimed that the attacks were in response to the refusal of Kano State government to release some of the sect’s members who had been arrested in the state.

According to him, they were forced to resort to the attacks after an open letter they had sent late in 2011 to the governor of the state, Rabiu Kwankwaso; the Dan Masanin Kano, Alhaji Yusuf Maitama Sule and the Emir of Kano, Alhaji Ado Bayero, had gone unheeded.

However, the 24-hour curfew imposed on the state made the state capital to look like a ghost town as people had to stay indoor, while soldiers, Air Force men and other security operatives were seen patrolling the state.

Unconfirmed report had it that apart from the about five police stations and Immigrations offices that were attacked, some people, the number of whom could not be ascertained, were killed.
All commercial banks and markets in the state were under lock and key.

 

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