Twin Bomb Blasts In Jos Killed 118 People

The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has said that no fewer than 118 people died in the twin bomb blasts which hit Jos Terminus Market on Tuesday in Plateau state.

This is coming after a Nigerian police official in Jos has informed that at least 45 people were killed in the bomb explosions

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The first explosion sounded at about 2:55 PM while the second happened about 10 metres away at about 3:20 PM around the same area, according to Premium Times.

Earlier reports on Sahara Reporters and CNN had stated that over 200 people were killed, up from the official 72 dead released earlier by government sources, as the two apparent car bombings had exploded 32 minutes apart.

The first exploded vehicle was a Peugeot J5 van (registration number XG 148 BLD) while the second blast was carried out with a Toyota van with a Gombe state license plate number.

According to an eyewitness, the second car (Toyota Sienna van) had been abandoned since 6 AM Tuesday morning. And at least five residents had informed police officials about suspicious car, but, unfortunately, no police arrived at the scene, and nothing was done until the car exploded some hours afterwards after a beeping sound.

Plateau Police Commissioner, Chris Olakpe, said one of the attack masterminds was killed in the explosion. It was gathered that scores of injured victims of the explosion are being rushed to Ola hospital.

Earlier, the Commander of the Special Task Force (STF) on Jos crisis, Major General Dave Enetie, confirmed the incident, but didn't give exact number of victims.

Sound of the explosion was heard in Bukuru, which is about 20km from Jos city.

As at the time of updating this report, no group has claimed responsibility for the attack but Boko Haram insurgents are widely believed to have active cells in Jos.

The Islamist sect have attacked the city before but the area has not been heavily affected by the extremist uprising.

The group claimed a July 2012 attack at a funeral outside the city that targeted mourners and the security services.

Plateau state, which falls on the dividing line between Nigeria’s mainly Christian South and mostly Muslim north, has however seen waves of sectarian violence that has killed thousands over the last decade.

“What we are doing now is (trying) to evacuate the dead bodies… many of them are burnt beyond recognition,” said Mohammed Abdulsalam, are coordinator for the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA). “The fire is still raging. Many shops are consumed by the inferno,” he said.

Kingsley Egbo of special military unit deployed in Plateau said rescue workers and the security services had a tough time to control the crowd amid the chaos.

The bombings follow two separate attacks that happened in a suburb of the federal capital city, Abuja, on April 14 and May 1, that killed more than 90 people.

Four people were also killed on Sunday in a suicide car bomb attack in a predominantly Christian area of the northern city of Kano that had been previously targeted by the group.

A former Aviation Minister, Femi Fani-Kayode, is one of the few prominent Nigerians to condemn the attack.

Reacting on his Facebook account, Fani-Kayode described the attack as horrible, while he also condoled with the families of those that lost their lives in the explosion.