Nigeria on Wednesday probed its deadliest ever bomb attack, with Boko Haram blamed for the atrocity that killed at least 118 people and fresh attacks near the town where more than 200 schoolgirls were kidnapped.
Emergency services picked through the burnt-out remains of vehicles and collapsed buildings in the New Abuja Market area of the central city of Jos, where two car bombs exploded within 20 minutes of each other on Tuesday.
The attack was the latest affront to the Nigerian government's internationally backed security crackdown in response to the mass abduction of more than 200 schoolgirls on April 14 that has sparked global attention.
The United States described the Jos carnage -- and a suicide car bombing in the northern city of Kano on Sunday -- as "vicious attacks on defenceless Nigerian civilians".
Two more attacks in villages near the girls' hometown of Chibok in northeastern Borno state were meanwhile reported, with witnesses saying that 30 people were killed on Monday and Tuesday.
- Boko Haram blamed -
In Jos, where Boko Haram have attacked before, Plateau state governor Jonah Jang's spokesman said the bombing bore the hallmarks of the Islamist extremists.
"The investigation is still ongoing but this is clearly an extension of the terrorist activity that has affected the northeast of the country, the Boko Haram insurgents," Pam Ayuba told AFP.
The Roman Catholic Archbishop of Jos, who also blamed Boko Haram, said the insurgents were trying to sow "chaos" in the religiously divided city, hit by waves of deadly sectarian clashes over the last 15 years.
Kyari Mohammed, a Boko Haram specialist and chairman of the Centre for Peace Studies at Modibbo Adama University in Yola, Adamawa state, said Boko Haram were "the only ones capable of doing this".
"Every other rebel or fringe group can use bombs but not of this scale or sophistication," he added.
"I have the feeling that what they want to achieve is to escalate things because of the international pressure which has built up (because of the kidnapping)."
On the day of the mass abduction, Boko Haram launched a car bomb attack on a bus station in a suburb of the capital Abuja which killed 75.
They are suspected of a similar attack in the same location on May 1 which left 19 dead.
Four people were killed in Sunday's attack in Kano, although it was unclear whether the attack was linked to Boko Haram, despite the militants having attacked the city before.
- Death toll may rise -
Rescue workers were among those who were caught up in the Jos bombings. As they tended to the injured from the first blast, the second detonated.
Improvised explosive devices were hidden in a minibus and truck, the military said.
Nigeria's National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) said late on Tuesday that 118 were killed and 56 injured but warned that the death toll could rise further.
NEMA spokesman Manzo Ezekiel said the agency's chief visited the scene and would give a revised toll after an assessment.
Faced with escalating violence, Nigeria's army announced a major new recruitment drive, with spokesman Olajide Laleye warning that fresh recruits will be sent to the frontline with Boko Haram.
"If there is anybody who wants to join the Nigerian Army and who does not want to end up in the northeast... such a person need not volunteer," the army spokesman said.
Parliament on Tuesday approved a request for a further six-month extension of a state of emergency in Borno and neighbouring Yobe and Adamawa states with the caveat that non-military means should also be explored to end the violence.
Jonathan is adamant that there will be no negotiations with Boko Haram on swapping the girls for militant fighters held in Nigerian jails but the government has maintained it is open to dialogue on wider issues.
- More attacks likely -
In New York, Nigeria submitted a request to the United Nations to proscribe Boko Haram as an international terrorist group, while the country's neighbours have vowed to step up co-operation to prevent a regional conflagration.
The UN special envoy for Central Africa Abou Moussa, speaking in Gabon, said the Islamists "have no fear, they have no shame. They do whatever they want".
The international attention on the plight of the missing girls has seen specialist teams from the United States, Britain, France and Israel sent to Nigeria to help in the search effort.
Mohammed, however, said that while on the one hand international pressure was forcing the government in Abuja to act, it was also emboldening Boko Haram to mount further strikes.
"They have sleeper cells all over the northern part of the country and they're activating them. That's what they're going to do," he said.
"We should anticipate more attacks, especially if they (the government and the international community) are unable to solve the Chibok problem...
"If they have allies across the Sahel or beyond they can get more support... We have succeeded in giving them the kind of profile that they didn't have. They are now a bigger player."
Nigeria on Wednesday probed its deadliest ever bomb attack, with Boko Haram blamed for the atrocity that killed at least 118 people and fresh attacks near the town where more than 200 schoolgirls were kidnapped.
Emergency services picked through the burnt-out remains of vehicles and collapsed buildings in the New Abuja Market area of the central city of Jos, where two car bombs exploded within 20 minutes of each other on Tuesday.
The attack was the latest affront to the Nigerian government’s internationally backed security crackdown in response to the mass abduction of more than 200 schoolgirls on April 14 that has sparked global attention.
The United States described the Jos carnage — and a suicide car bombing in the northern city of Kano on Sunday — as “vicious attacks on defenceless Nigerian civilians”.
Two more attacks in villages near the girls’ hometown of Chibok in northeastern Borno state were meanwhile reported, with witnesses saying that 30 people were killed on Monday and Tuesday.
– Boko Haram blamed –
In Jos, where Boko Haram have attacked before, Plateau state governor Jonah Jang’s spokesman said the bombing bore the hallmarks of the Islamist extremists.
“The investigation is still ongoing but this is clearly an extension of the terrorist activity that has affected the northeast of the country, the Boko Haram insurgents,” Pam Ayuba told AFP.
The Roman Catholic Archbishop of Jos, who also blamed Boko Haram, said the insurgents were trying to sow “chaos” in the religiously divided city, hit by waves of deadly sectarian clashes over the last 15 years.
Kyari Mohammed, a Boko Haram specialist and chairman of the Centre for Peace Studies at Modibbo Adama University in Yola, Adamawa state, said Boko Haram were “the only ones capable of doing this”.
“Every other rebel or fringe group can use bombs but not of this scale or sophistication,” he added.
“I have the feeling that what they want to achieve is to escalate things because of the international pressure which has built up (because of the kidnapping).”
On the day of the mass abduction, Boko Haram launched a car bomb attack on a bus station in a suburb of the capital Abuja which killed 75.
They are suspected of a similar attack in the same location on May 1 which left 19 dead.
Four people were killed in Sunday’s attack in Kano, although it was unclear whether the attack was linked to Boko Haram, despite the militants having attacked the city before.
– Death toll may rise –
Rescue workers were among those who were caught up in the Jos bombings. As they tended to the injured from the first blast, the second detonated.
Improvised explosive devices were hidden in a minibus and truck, the military said.
Nigeria’s National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) said late on Tuesday that 118 were killed and 56 injured but warned that the death toll could rise further.
NEMA spokesman Manzo Ezekiel said the agency’s chief visited the scene and would give a revised toll after an assessment.
Faced with escalating violence, Nigeria’s army announced a major new recruitment drive, with spokesman Olajide Laleye warning that fresh recruits will be sent to the frontline with Boko Haram.
“If there is anybody who wants to join the Nigerian Army and who does not want to end up in the northeast… such a person need not volunteer,” the army spokesman said.
Parliament on Tuesday approved a request for a further six-month extension of a state of emergency in Borno and neighbouring Yobe and Adamawa states with the caveat that non-military means should also be explored to end the violence.
Jonathan is adamant that there will be no negotiations with Boko Haram on swapping the girls for militant fighters held in Nigerian jails but the government has maintained it is open to dialogue on wider issues.
– More attacks likely –
In New York, Nigeria submitted a request to the United Nations to proscribe Boko Haram as an international terrorist group, while the country’s neighbours have vowed to step up co-operation to prevent a regional conflagration.
The UN special envoy for Central Africa Abou Moussa, speaking in Gabon, said the Islamists “have no fear, they have no shame. They do whatever they want”.
The international attention on the plight of the missing girls has seen specialist teams from the United States, Britain, France and Israel sent to Nigeria to help in the search effort.
Mohammed, however, said that while on the one hand international pressure was forcing the government in Abuja to act, it was also emboldening Boko Haram to mount further strikes.
“They have sleeper cells all over the northern part of the country and they’re activating them. That’s what they’re going to do,” he said.
“We should anticipate more attacks, especially if they (the government and the international community) are unable to solve the Chibok problem…
“If they have allies across the Sahel or beyond they can get more support… We have succeeded in giving them the kind of profile that they didn’t have. They are now a bigger player.”
