KANO: We won’t be intimidated • Perpetrators are no Muslims- Sultan • Mortuaries filled to brim with dead bodies As the city of Kano began stocktaking of Friday’s deadly bomb blasts, Emir
Muhammed Sanusi II said yesterday
that the attack was planned for two
months. The Emir, who was out of the country
during the attack, returned home
yesterday apparently after cutting
short his trip to visit the Central
Mosque at his palace, and sympathise
with the bereaved and the injured. Up to 120 people were feared dead
after two suicide bombers and several
gunmen launched the attack during
the Juma’at prayers. The Police insisted yesterday that 34
people died and 125 injured even
when an attendant in one of the
mortuaries in the metropolis claimed
to have counted 102 dead bodies. A top official at the Murtala Muhammed
Specialist Hospital who does not want
his name in print said the mortuaries at
Abdullahi Wase Specialist Hospital, Sir
Muhammad Sunusi Specialist Hospital,
Sheikh Muhammad Jiddah General Hospital, Murtala Muhammed Specialist
Hospital and Aminu Kano Reaching
Hospital were all filled to the brim with
bodies brought in from the scene. “This is the deadliest attack ever
carried out in Kano,” the official said. Emir Sanusi II who drove straight to
the scene from the airport directed
that the mosque be washed and
cleaned. “From all indications, they (attackers)
have been planning this for at least
two months,” Associated Press (AP)
quoted Sanusi as saying, but gave no
details . “I have directed that the mosque be
washed and cleaned and prayers
should continue here,” he said and
vowed: “We will never be intimidated
into abandoning our religion, which is
the intention of the attackers.” The Sultan of Sokoto and leader of
Muslims in Nigeria, Alhaji Mohammed
Abubakar Sa’ad III, speaking on the
attack, at a different forum in Abuja
yesterday, said: “those behind all the
attacks are not Muslims. “I do not believe those perpetrating
these are Muslims because if they are
Muslims they are not professing what
Islam teaches,” the Sultan said during
the Post-2014 Hajj Conference
organised by the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria at the National
Mosque, Abuja. He added: “In the world over it is the
duty and responsibility of government
to provide security for the citizenry.
This is the time for all the various sects
in Islam in this country to rally round
one another and bring to an end insurgency in this country.” Tension remained high in the
metropolis yesterday as residents
went from one hospital to the other
searching for their missing relations
from among the dead and the injured. Many of them broke down in tears
once they sighted the d bodies. Some of the bodies were collected and
taken for burial immediately. Sympathisers also besieged the
various hospitals with a view to
donating blood to save the lives of
those receiving treatment. Insufficient blood bags however
constituted a problem. United Nations (UN) Secretary-General
Ban Ki-moon called the attack
‘horrific’. He pledged U.N. support for Nigeria’s
fight against terrorism, and called for
the perpetrators to be swiftly brought
to justice, according to his spokesman. Some survivors of the deadly attack
relived their experiences in separate
interviews. Auwalu Sule, 48, who said he has
been worshipping at the mosque for
16 years said: “we were about to start
praying at about 2.15 pm, when we
heard a deafening sound of bomb
explosions. “Simultaneously, some people started
shooting sporadically followed by
another bomb blast. Before we knew
it another explosive strapped to the
body of a suicide bomber went off
inside the mosque. We all went down on our tummy. “Almost everyone to my left lay dead;
it was only Allah who saved me
because one of the gunmen was
standing beside me thinking that I
was dead. “Then I heard people saying
worshippers should stop running. I
wanted to get up, but I was afraid. But
once the shooting stopped, people
summoned the courage and went for
the two gunmen left behind, disarmed them and set them ablaze.” Another survivor, Aminu Yahaya, 32,
said soldiers arrived the scene 15
minutes after the attack only to start
beating up those rescuing the injured
and helping to evacuate the dead
bodies. Hamisu Dakaura, 35, who runs a shop
close to the mosque claimed to have
counted “over four hundred people
that lost their lives.” “We worked for over four hours
evacuating the bodies. As we were
evacuating the bodies, soldiers
descended heavily on us and they
were trying to stop us, shooting
sporadically to scare us from the scene. “They vandalised vehicles. Even
tricycles numbering over 30 that were
being used to evacuate the dead
bodies the soldiers shot. It was only
Allah that saved me or else I would
have been a dead man for trying to assist in the evacuation of the dead.” Nasiru Ahmed, 19, and Baffa Tijjani,
38, who went to the Abdullahi Wase
specialist Hospital to donate blood to
the victims were dismayed that there
were insufficient blood bags. The State Deputy Police Commissioner,
Mr. Sanusi Lemu, told reporters that 34
people died. He said investigation into the blasts
has commenced.
www.thenationonlineng.com

How did he know?

victorels:
How did he know?

Same questn i wanted to ask... He knws abt the plan... Probably knw their target... And didnt instruct the hisbah guys in kano to help beef up security around mosque... Well, only God knws who are truly behing this deadly attack.