IMAN Chairman condemns spate of extremist attacks in Nigeria
Jueves, 22 Mayo 2014
Nigeria bombings: 'Death toll passes 100'
BBC NEWS
The bodies of at least 118 people have now been recovered from the sites of twin bombings in the central Nigerian city of Jos, the nation's emergency management agency says.
The first blast was in a busy market, the second outside a nearby hospital.
No group has said it was behind the attack but Boko Haram militants have carried out a spate of recent bombings.
Jos has also seen deadly clashes between Christian and Muslim groups in recent years.
A spokesperson for the regional governor told AFP news agency that most of the victims were women. The market and bus terminal are part of the commercial centre of Jos.
The second blast was some 30 minutes after the first and killed some rescue workers.
Journalist Hassan Ibrahim told the BBC that tension was rising in the area, with youths blocking some roads. Religious leaders are appealing for calm.
National Emergency Management Agency coordinator Mohammed Abdulsalam said: "We've now recovered 118 bodies from the rubble. This could rise by morning, as there is still some rubble we haven't shifted." He said 56 people were injured.
The BBC's Muhammad Kabir Muhammad in the capital Abuja says witnesses at a hospital in Jos saw bodies being brought in that were burned beyond recognition.
A student in Jos, Ayo Tumbe Omeiza, told the BBC: "The second blast was close to me. I tried to get to my car. I was asking for help. I saw a lot of dead people. After the blast people could not stop panicking. People were driving in all directions."
President Goodluck Jonathan condemned the attack as a "tragic assault on human freedom".
"President Jonathan assures all Nigerians that the government remains fully committed to winning the war against terror and... will not be cowed by the atrocities of enemies of human progress and civilisation," his office said.
Although Boko Haram has previously targeted Jos, the capital of Plateau state, the city has been relatively calm for almost two years.
The state has witnessed violence blamed on land disputes between semi-nomadic Muslim Fulani herdsmen and mainly Christian Berom farmers.
Deadly blast hits Nigerian city of Jos
BBC NEWS
An explosion in the central Nigerian city of Jos has killed at least three people in a suicide attack, police say.
Police said the blast happened near an open-air TV viewing centre where people were watching the Champions League football final.
No group has said it carried out the attack.
However it comes days after a twin car bomb attack blamed on Boko Haram militants killed 118 people in Jos.
A spokesman for Plateau state governor Jonah Jang said the latest blast happened on Bauchi Road at about 21:30 local time (20:30 GMT).
Police commissioner Chris Olakpe told AFP news agency that the bomber's improvised explosive device detonated prematurely.
"He died in the wake of the heinous crime. It exploded before the viewing centre because of pressure from local youths and the alertness of the local people," he added.
Last month suspected Boko Haram gunmen stormed a venue in Potiskum, north-east Yobe state, and shot dead two people watching the two Champions League quarter-final matches.
Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau has previously described football and music as a Western ploy to distract Muslims from their religion.
The latest attack comes five weeks after Boko Haram kidnapped more than 200 schoolgirls, prompting international outrage.
The UN Security Council has approved sanctions against the Islamist group.
Nigeria's Boko Haram 'targets village vigilantes'
BBC NEWS
Militants in Nigeria have raided three villages and killed those they accused of being anti-Boko Haram vigilantes, residents have told the BBC.
More than 30 people were killed in the attacks overnight into Friday in north-eastern Borno state, they said.
The raids took place as the UN Security Council approved sanctions against the Islamist group.
It is five weeks since Boko Haram kidnapped more than 200 schoolgirls, prompting international outrage.
Nigerian officials say President Goodluck Jonathan is due to travel to South Africa for discussions with other African heads of state on combating terrorism in Africa following on from last weekend's summit hosted by France.
Earlier his Rwandan counterpart, Paul Kagame, said African presidents should take responsibility for their failures and resolve their own conflicts together.
"I find that our leaders, who should have been working together all along to address these problems that only affect their countries, wait until they are invited to go to Europe. Why does anybody wait for that? What image does it even give about Africa?" he said.
Nigerians are a typically proud people, often wary of foreign interference of any sort in our affairs. But recent events have forced us to a place of humility”
Residents from two of the villages that came under attack said militants had arrived in a convoy and gathered the men of the community together.
They accused them of being members of vigilante groups and killed them all, one villager from Moforo in Marte district who escaped across the border to Cameroon told the BBC Hausa service.
They then burnt down all the shops in the market, leaving the villagers destitute, he said.
Correspondents say that most villages have formed vigilante groups to try to protect their communities from militant attacks.
A resident of Kimbi village in Biu district said the villagers contacted the security forces to alert them to their attack, but were told it was not an area under military control so they could not be helped.
The military has not commented on the allegation.
About 25 men were killed in Moforo, another eight men in Kimbi. It is not known if there were casualties from a raid early on Friday on Kabrihu village near the Sambisa forest.
The latest attacks came after another deadly village raid in Borno and twin bombings which killed 122 in the central city of Jos on Tuesday. The authorities also suspect Boko Haram of being behind those attacks, but there has so far been no claim of responsibility from the group.
Boko Haram was added to the UN Security Council's al-Qaeda Sanctions Committee's list of designated entities on Thursday at the request of Nigeria.
US envoy Samantha Power said it was an "important step" in support of efforts to "defeat Boko Haram and hold its murderous leadership accountable".
Analysts say it is hard to say what practical effect the move will have.
Boko Haram, which has killed thousands of people in Nigeria through a wave of bombings and assassinations since 2009, is fighting to overthrow the government and create an Islamic state.
The government's failure to prevent attacks since launching an offensive against Boko Haram a year ago has triggered widespread anger, especially since the kidnapping of the schoolgirls from Chibok in Borno on 14 April.
Meanwhile, residents in Bauchi, which is not one of three states under emergency rule because of the insurgency, say the air force repeatedly bombed a forest where there are suspected militant camps on Thursday morning.
Responding to the reports, IMAN Chairman, Ribal Al-Assad said:
"I am very disturbed by these reports and wholeheartedly condemn these terrible atrocities.
These attacks are on the increase in Nigeria and it is clear that the situation is fast descending out of control;
These Islamists will stop at nothing to achieve their aim of an Islamic caliphate state in Nigeria and it is apparent that steps taken so far to prevent them are inadequate.
The international community must do more to assist Nigeria and bring this situation back from the brink of disaster before more people die at the hands of these terrorists.
My thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families at this time."
