Twin blasts kill more than 118 people in Nigeria
May 20, 2014, 9:36 pm

Emergency officials said the death toll of 118 could rise higher by Wednesday morning as crews search for people under the rubble [AP]

But National Emergency Management Agency staff who are at the scene said they death toll could rise by morning, as they searched for more bodies under the rubble caused by the explosion

The twin bombings come a day after a suicide car bomber killed 25 people in northern Kano city. A bomb squad detonated another device there later in the day.

The suicide bomber had targeted the predominantly Christian area of Sabon Gari in Kano – a district known for its bars and restaurants.

“President Jonathan assures all Nigerians that government remains fully committed to winning the war against terror, and this administration will not be cowed by the atrocities of enemies of human progress and civilization,” a statement from the president’s office said shortly after.

There has been no claim of responsibility for the Tuesday evening twin bombings, but there are suspicions that the Islamist secessionist group Boko Haram could have been behind the attack.

Boko Haram debuted on the Nigerian stage in 2002 and has been calling for an end to secular-based law, to be replaced with Islamic Sharia law. It has been fighting government forces and raiding villages ever since, particularly in the country’s northeast.

The uptick in Boko Haram attacks in the northeastern states of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa appears to come in response to a Nigerian military operation, which began last summer, to uproot the hard-line Islamist group, and a declaration of a state of emergency by Jonathan.

Last week, Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau, claimed responsibility for kidnapping more than 200 schoolgirls and said they would be sold as slaves.

Source: Agencies