Boko Haram must end its campaign of senseless killings and the Nigerian authorities must bring those responsible to justice, said Amnesty International in the wake of the latest bomb attacks which killed dozens and injured more than 180 people.
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At least 14 were killed and 100 others were wounded when two female suicide bombers exploded themselves yesterday at a mobile phone market in Kano, Nigeria.
A woman suicide bomber killed many people at a crowded market early Friday in a blast that thundered across the northeastern Nigerian city of Maiduguri, witnesses said.
If this is true, it is a huge step forward and a big change for Nigeria whose military has often seemed to be colluding with the terrorist group.
“The findings made so far are extremely worrying considering that the interventions were granted within the same period that our troops fighting the insurgency in the northeast were in desperate need of platforms, military equipment and ammunition”, said the Nigerian president. Overall, Iraq had the highest number of terrorism-related deaths, with 9,929 people killed in the course of the year.
Nobody immediately claimed responsibility for the Yola and Kano attacks, but the incidents bore the hallmarks of Boko Haram, which is attempting to create an Islamic caliphate in Nigeria.
In the wake of both attacks, President Muhammadu Buhari, has asked Nigerians not to despair, assuring that his government would soon defeat the Boko Haram insurgents.
“I am telling you that our soldiers are standing firm in the area and they are flushing whatever Boko Haram remnants in the area”, he added.
Facebook activated its “Safety Check” feature following Tuesday’s blast, after users said it seemed that deaths elsewhere didn’t matter as much as the deaths in Paris.
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Buhari ordered the arrest of Dasuki, a key adviser to former President Goodluck Jonathan from 2012, and other unnamed high-ranking officials mentioned in an interim report by a committee investigating arms procurement since 2007 that Buhari ordered after he took office in May. Those attacks have been blamed on Boko Haram, which has pledged its loyalty to the Islamic State group.
