KANO, Nigeria, (Reuters) – More than 100 people were killed in bomb attacks and gunbattles in the Nigerian city Kano late yesterday, a local government security source said, in the deadliest strike claimed by Islamist sect Boko Haram to date.
“Definitely more than 100 have been killed,” the senior source, who could not be named, told Reuters.
“There were bombs and then gunmen were attacking police and police came back with attacks.” Hospital staff said there were still bodies arriving at morgues in Kano.
Boko Haram claimed responsibility today for the wave of strikes. The sect has killed hundreds in the north of Africa’s most populous nation in the last year.
The attacks late yesterday prompted the government to announce a dusk-to-dawn curfew in the city of more than 10 million people, the country’s second biggest.
President Goodluck Jonathan, who has been criticised for failing to act quickly and decisively enough against Boko Haram, said the killers would face “the full wrath of the law.”
Kano and other northern cities have been plagued by an insurgency led by Boko Haram, which is blamed for scores of bombings and shootings. These have taken place mostly in the Muslim-dominated north of Africa’s top oil producer, whose main oil-producing facilities are located to the south.
Aimed mainly at government targets, the Boko Haram attacks have been growing in scale and sophistication.
A spokesman for Boko Haram contacted reporters in the northeastern city of Maiduguri, where the sect is based, to claim responsibility for yesterday’s bombings. Copies of a letter apparently from the group were also dropped around Kano.
The letter, written in the Hausa language spoken in northern Nigeria, said the attacks were retribution for police arrests and killings of members of the sect.
CHAOS
Police Corporal Aliu Abdullahi, who survived multiple gunshots, described a scene of chaos.
“We were in the mess when we saw people running and heard gunshots from the gate, I saw them shooting. You could not differentiate the Boko Haram members from our Police Mobile Force men because they wore the same uniform,” he said.
“They were more than 50. As I tried to run a bullet hit me on my left hand and another shot hit me on my chest I fell.”
The police said eight buildings were attacked, including police headquarters, three police stations, the headquarters of the secret services and the immigration head office.
“It is with a heart full of sadness and pain that I convey my condolences … to the families, friends, associates and relatives of all those who lost their lives in the acts of violence in Kano,” President Jonathan said in a statement.
“I want to re-assure Nigerians … that all those involved in that dastardly act will be made to face the full wrath of the law.”
Shooting between police and gunmen went on into the night, residents said. Witnesses said most died from gunshots.
“We are still going around collecting corpses,” a spokesman for the National Emergency Management Agency in Kano told Reuters. “They are mostly police officers … some died from injuries from explosions, some from gunshot wounds.”
Witnesses said smoke billowed from the police headquarters after the blast blew out the windows, wrecked the roof and triggered a blaze that firefighters struggled to control.
