The Jos attacks, the first major incidents in that city since February, were the worst in a weekend of violence in Nigeria, which is fighting a six-year-old rebellion by the Islamist militant group Boko Haram.
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According to eyewitness reports, the bomb at Yantaya Mosque went off as leading religious leader Sani Yahaya from the Jama’atu Izalatul Bidia organisation, was addressing the crowd.
The restaurant destroyed by another explosion is said to have been popular among state governors and other top politicians.
Nigeria’s military has released 180 people suspected of being members of the homegrown Nigerian Takfiri terrorist group Boko Haram, including women who had been detained together with their toddlers and infants. In March, it became the Islamic State’s West African affiliate.
There was no immediate official word on the Sunday night blasts or any claim of responsibility.
Jos is a central city of nearly one million people, where the country’s majority Muslim north and mainly Christian south collide. He said about 47 people had been injured.
Nigerian soldiers are facing an increased threat from Boko Haram.
Amnesty global estimates that more than 17,000 people have been killed since 2009 in violence involving Boko Haram.
El-Rufai, from Buhari’s All Progressives Congress (APC) party, said people in Zaria should be vigilant and avoid crowded places such as mosques, churches and bus stations in the next few weeks.
“The attack on Cigama was obviously in response to the deployment by vigilantes from the village to nearby Kokeya which helped in pushing the bandits out”, he said. The militants have carried at least four previous suicide attacks in the town so far this year, resulting in the deaths of more than 20 people.
Thomas-Greenfield said the American government will bring up the issue of support and collaboration in the context of human rights when President Buhari visits later in the month. “The restaurant was destroyed and we saw many people covered in blood”, he said.
Of the 44 dead, 23 were killed at the restaurant and 21 at the mosque, Nigeria’s National Emergency Management Agency (Nema) says.
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According to the Associated Press, Nigeria President Muhammadu Buhari condemned the attacks as barbaric and expressed the need for a multinational army to take out Boko Haram.
