Death toll rises to 210
KANO city, yesterday, came under a fresh attack as the Boko Haram sect bombed a police outpost at Sheka along Zoo road, close to the Shagari quarters.
The fresh attack, at 6.30 p.m, came few minutes to the commencement of the restriction of movement.
Vanguard gathered that there was fierce shooting between security forces and suspects believed to be members of the Boko Haram sect that has claimed responsibility for last Friday's bomb attacks which left more than 200 persons dead.
Details of the new attack were still sketchy at the time of this report as people were running helter skelter for shelter. Unconfirmed reports said that158 suspects were arrested after the gun duel that lasted about four hours between 12.55 and 4.00 am. The report which quoted security sources said some of the suspects resisted arrest and exchanged gunfire with the security forces
The arrests came as community leaders said the number of dead from the Kano bombing and gun attacks has risen to at least 211. According to them, the number included victims who never made it to the hospitals.
Policemen from bomb disposal unit of Kano State Police Command packing defused home made bombs made from cans of soft drinks. Photos: AFP
It was Gathered that the gun battle at Hotoro quarters in Kano municipality reportedly claimed the life of Kano based businessman, Uzairu Abba Abdullahi, and his pregnant wife.
Mass burial for victims
Meanwhile the Kano State government has commenced the mass burial of Friday's blasts victims. Emir of Kano, Alhaji Ado Bayero broke tradition, yesterday, and visited survivors of the attacks on admission at the Murtala Muhammad Specialist Hospital. Bayero was accompanied by two other first class emirs from Jigawa State, Najeeb Hussaini Adamu, (Kazaure) and Nuhu Muhammadu Sanusi (Dutse) to the hospital to sympathize with victims.
In some of the hospitals, some of the corpses were left on the bare floor because of lack of space had started decomposing, hence the need to bury them immediately. OMG!!!!!!!!!!
It was also investigation revealed that the category of corpses that would be given mass burial are those that had either remained unclaimed as at yesterday morning or the mangled and decomposed bodies of victims packed in polythene bags.
Don't negotiate with terrorists —Army
Nigerian Army authorities, yesterday, warned against entering into any negotiation with the Boko Haram sect with insisting that dialogue has never been the antidote to terrorism.
Policemen carrying defused home-made bombs unto waiting vans, yesterday. Police said they recovered over 300 undetonated improvised explosive devices in various parts of the city since three days, after multiple explosions and gun assaults by Boko Haram killed 210 people. Photos: AFP
935 Nigerians killed by Boko Haram—HRW
The Human Rights Watch, HRW, said in a statement yesterday, that no fewer than 935 Nigerians have been killed by the Boko Haram Islamic sect since the the group started its campaign to force stricter form of Sharia in the northern states in 2009.
Christmas day bombing
"Many of the attacks in the past month have specifically targeted Christians and southern Nigerians living in the north, including the Christmas Day 2011 bombing of a Catholic church in Madalla, Niger State, which killed at least 40 people. After which president Goodluck Jonathan declared state of emergency on Dec 31.
January 2nd, Boko Harram gave a 3 day ultimatum to the Christians to leave the north.
January 5th, Suspected members of the Boko Haram attacked a church in Gombe killing 6 people, including the pastors wife.
January 6, 12 members of the igbo etghnic group from the south region were attacked during a meeting and 12 christians were killed.
January 11, Boko Haram opened fire on a comuter van full of igbo passengers leaveing the north killing 4 people.
Boko Haram's leader, Abubakar Shekau, in a video released on January 11, claimed that the group carried out the attacks on Christians in retaliation for the killing of Muslims by Christians in central Nigeria, including Kaduna and Plateau states. Boko Haram is targeting and killing people in northern Nigeria based on their religion and ethnicity.
''The Nigerian police, on January 14, announced the arrest of a suspect in the Christmas Day church bombing in Madalla, (Kabiru Sokoto) but he escaped from police custody the following day. ''Several other Boko Haram suspects have escaped from custody in the past months in suspicious circumstances.
''The group carried out a series of similarly coordinated attacks on police stations, banks, and churches in Yobe and Borno states on November 4. The attacks left more than 100 people dead.
''The January 20 attacks, including apparent suicide car bombings, targeted the state and regional police headquarters, three local police stations, and a police barracks in Kano, the largest city in Nigeria's north, as well as the offices of the State Security Service, SSS, and the immigration department.
''According to a police statement and media reports, the dead included numerous Kano residents, one Indian, two Nepalese nationals, a journalist working for Channels TV (an independent Nigerian television station), 29 police officers, three customs and immigration officers, and three SSS agents.
''Boko Haram seeks to impose a stricter form of Sharia or Islamic law in northern Nigeria and end corruption.
''News media reported that a spokesperson for the group, Abul Qaqa, took responsibility for the attacks in Kano, saying the group carried out the attacks because the government refused to release Boko Haram members who had been arrested.
''Violence by Boko Haram, which means Western education is sinful in the Hausa language of northern Nigeria, can be traced to five days of clashes in July 2009 between the group and members of the security forces in Borno, Yobe, Bauchi, and Kano states that left more than 800 people dead, including at least 30 police officers.
''The police summarily executed the captured Boko Haram leader, Mohammed Yusuf, along with several dozen of his followers in front of the police headquarters in Maiduguri. Boko Haram has said that its attacks on the police are in revenge for these killings.''
WHAT COULD BE THE WAY FORWARD FOR NIGERIA??????
WE RE FAST DISINTEGRATING.......
SEND IN UR VIEWS ON NIGERIAN ORDEAL TODAY!!!!!!!!!!
