Scene of a bomb blast
Buhari, Atiku, Bindow condemn attacks, call for vigilance
Tobi Soniyi in Abuja, Ibrahim Shuaibu in Kano and Daji Sani in Yola
Less than 24 hours after 34 persons were killed and 80 others were injured from a suicide bomb attack on a truck garage in Yola, Adamawa State, two bombs ripped through a popular phone market in Taruni Local Government Area of Kano State on Wednesday claiming 15 lives.
The explosions occurred when two female suicide bombers detonated bombs within and outside the market, injuring 53 persons.
Eyewitnesses said the first explosion occurred at the first gate of the market close to a generator and the second exploded at the second gate, which is the main entrance of the market.
The state Police Commissioner, Alhaji Muhammad Katsina, who visited the scene of the blasts, confirmed that 15 people were killed including the suicide bombers.
He said 53 persons sustained injuries and were rushed to hospitals for treatment.
According to him, the suicide bombers were brought into the market by a Sharon vehicle but detectives were working hard to arrest other female bombers.
A team of the joint military task force was deployed in the area after the blasts and the market sealed off.
Another eyewitness, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, however, said he saw about 20 dead bodies evacuated from the scene of the blast, adding that bodies of those killed littered the roads in the market.
Last year, the same market was bombed resulting in the death of several persons.
Reacting to the bomb attacks in Yola and Kano, President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday in Abuja asked Nigerians not to despair in the face of cowardly terror attacks in the two northern states.
A statement by his media aide, Mr. Garba Shehu, said Buhari urged all Nigerians to have confidence in the ability of the country’s “reinvigorated, well-equipped and well-motivated Armed Forces and security agencies to overcome Boko Haram very soon”.
The statement said the president condemned in the strongest terms the barbaric suicide terror attacks in Yola on Tuesday and in Kano yesterday, resulting in numerous deaths and injuries among civilians.
Buhari called for increased vigilance among the civilian population to help ward off suicide terror attacks on soft targets around the country.
He also extended his heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims as well as to the government and people of Adamawa and Kano States respectively.
Buhari reassured Nigerians that his administration was very much determined to wipe out Boko Haram and bring all perpetrators of these heinous crimes against humanity to justice.
The president said he believed that vigilance was a potential life saver, since security agents could not be everywhere to deter every planned attack.
“Citizens' vigilance will therefore help to reduce the frequency of such attacks,” the statement said.
Also, Adamawa State Governor Muhammad Jibrilla Bindow in strong terms condemned Tuesday’s bomb attack that claimed 34 lives and injured 80 in Yola.
The governor, who flew into the state capital from Abuja yesterday afternoon, drove straight to the scene of the blast at the truck garage near a cattle market at the Jimeta bypass to see the extent of the damage caused by the explosion.
From the scene of the blast, Bindow went to the Specialist Hospital and the Federal Medical Centre, Yola to commiserate with the injured victims.
During the visit, the governor expressed his sadness over the incident that had thrown the state into total confusion on Tuesday.
According to him, “It is very sad that this is happening less than one month when a similar bomb blast claimed many lives and so injured many other people.
“We as a government are doing everything possible to nip any attack, we need your support to divulge the whereabouts of these bad people living with us.”
Bindow called on Adamawa residents to report any strange and suspicious persons or movement to the security agencies in the state.
He wished the victims quick recovery, promising that his government would do its best to mitigate their sufferings and take care of their hospital bills.
He charged the medical team to ensure that the victims of the blast are well taken care of.
The governor said the state government had beefed up security in the affected area and called on the people to go about their normal duties, assuring them that the security agencies were on top of the situation.
Speaking on the casualties, the state Coordinator of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Alhaji Sa'ad Bello, said the number of those who died had risen to 34, while 80 persons were injured.
He said some victims died in the hospital on Tuesday night.
He added that the victims receiving treatment at the two government hospitals were recuperating and 80 per cent of them were stable, expressing confidence that some of them would soon be discharged.
Bello pledged that his organisation would do everything possible to ensure that the victims are properly catered to while in hospital.
Recounting the incident, an eyewitness who identified himself as Mallam Sallah said before the bomb blast, an unknown man came to the garage to dole out N500 notes to people.
He said little did the crowd know that it was a bait to attract them to a spot in order to blow them off, adding that as the crowd gathered to get their share of the cash, the bomb went off killing them along with the man who was dispensing the money.
Sallah claimed that he also partook of the largesse but hurriedly left the scene to attend to some pressing issues at home. He blamed the cash bait for the high casualty rate.
Another beneficiary of the cash largesse, Musa, confirmed that he also got N500 but was lucky to have left the scene before the bomb went off.
He revealed that the suicide bomber detonated the bomb in front of a female food vendor at the truck garage.
According to him, “The woman and her son Chidima were ripped apart and died on the spot. I was one of the people who helped the victims.”
Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar also condemned the attacks on both cities, saying no society should surrender to anarchy because of terrorist harassments.
Atiku in a statement by his media office yesterday said the Boko Haram terrorists are increasingly desperate as “they have lost one captured territory after another, and the massive attack on the hideout (Sambisa forest) by Nigerian troops”.
According to the former vice-president, the terrorists are looking for soft targets to unleash their frustrations, adding that such methods of targeting defenceless people would not help the terrorists achieve their ambition to establish the reign of terror.
The Turaki Adamawa said he was highly disturbed by these senseless and purposeless attacks on innocent people, explaining that “killing innocent people is the worst injustice and human rights violation”.
According to Atiku, “There is no moral, legal or economic reason to justify the killing of the innocent by any group of people anywhere.”
The former vice-president advised the people not to despair but to be vigilant because “terrorism would ultimately collapse from its own weak moral foundation of injustice and indiscriminate murder of the innocent”.
He urged the security agencies to step up their intelligence gathering initiatives and to establish listening posts to track and nip in the bud the murderous plots of the insurgents.
He expressed his condolences to the families of the victims in both the Yola and Kano attacks, even as he urged emergency agencies to ensure that the wounded get adequate medical attention
