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156 dead in Nigeria

Monday, 23 January 2012 05:55 Written by MD. Sakib Chowdhury

156 people are reported dead in the Nigerian country of Kano massacre

It’s a horrifying scene in Nigeria. A 24 hour curfew has been put into place in Kano, which is located in the northern part of the country. There are at least 156 dead after eight government sites were attacked with bombs and gunfire. Authorities expect the number to rise because hospitals in the city are simply not well enough equipped to handle either the magnitude of patients or of the injuries they sustained. There are search and rescue operations underway as workers try to dig through the rubble from the bombings. Volunteers are trying to give the best possible care they can to the injured, but it is difficult.

The coordinated bombings hit several police stations, as well as police barracks, state security headquarters, a passport office, and the immigration office. Kano is the second largest city in Nigeria and residents, terrified by the violence, are barricading themselves in their homes. In one police station, the attackers let prisoners go and then bombed the station house. Gunfire was everywhere afterwards, as the assailants drove by in cars and on motorcycles, firing randomly.

Boko Haram, a radical Islamist group, has claimed responsibility for the attacks. As a result, Nigeria has closed its borders with Niger and Cameroon. The government says that the militants were allowed to travel into Nigeria from these two countries. In addition, there has been a large troop deployment into northern Nigeria. The country is currently under a declaration of a state of emergency.

Last December, Goodluck Jonathan, the president of Nigeria, also affirmed a state of urgent situation after bombings on Christmas Day in some Christian churches in four northern states. Those attacks were also by Boko Haram. The mastermind behind those attacks, Kabiru Sokoto, was capture earlier this week, but escaped from police custody just a couple of days later.