AS the city of Kano seemed to be recovering from the devastating effect of the multiple bomb blasts that claimed no fewer than 200 lives, on Friday, bombs planted in two cars were defused on Sunday in the city.
This is just as President Goodluck Jonathan, on Sunday, said arrests had been made over attacks in the city of Kano and that the backers of the sect were being pursued.
One of the bomb-rigged cars, a Kia brand, was parked very close to Chula Oil at Eastern bye-pass, while the second car, a Honda Civic, was parked at the NNPC mega petrol station in Hotoro area of the city.
It was discovered that the two cars were parked to give the impression that the owners wanted to purchase fuel at the petrol stations.
However, two days after all the other cars had been removed from the petrol stations, the people of the area became suspicious and went to the authorities.
The people had noticed that the window of the cars were open but when it was night, a person would come and wind up the glass of the cars .
Following this, the security operatives combed the vehicles and discovered the bombs which they later defused.
All efforts to get police comments on the incident were unsuccessful, as a call to the Police Pubic Relations Officer (PPRO), ASP Magaji Majiya, did not go through while the state Commissioner of Police, Mr Idris Ibrahim, was said to have gone to receive President Goodluck Jonathan, who was in the state to visit the site of last Friday’s bomb blasts.
On Sunday, President Jonathan said arrests had been made over attacks in the city of Kano and the backers of the Islamist group Boko Haram were being pursued.
“Some arrests have been made. Some died in the process. Some were suicide bombers,” Dr Jonathan said in a British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) interview on Sunday during a visit to Kano.
“There must be people who are sponsoring them. Terrorists all over the world have their source of income,” he said.
“We are also looking into those areas to make sure that the so-called Boko Haram ... those who are encouraging them, those who are sponsoring them, shall be brought to book.”
Asked about the number of Boko Haram members, he said: “Nobody can say for now, because you know that they are not organised armed forces.”
Meanwhile, indications emerged on Sunday that Friday’s coordinated attacks in the city of Kano by agents of the dreaded Islamic militant sect, Boko Haram were a way of showing its anger against the security agencies, which recently drove its leader, Abubakar Shekau, to Niger Republic and equally foiled an attempt to enlist some young almajiris into the sect.
Sources close to the administration indicated that preliminary reports on the coordinated attacks on security outfits in Kano confirmed that the attacks were principally targeted at displaying the anger of the sect against the Nigerian Immigrations Service and the State Security Service (SSS), as well as the police, which had arrested over 300 suspected members of the sect.
It was gathered that the SSS, especially, was involved in thwarting the sect’s attempt to recruit some young almajiris in a village in Katsina, said to be close to Nigeria/Niger border.
Besides, it was learnt that the police had arrested close to 300 suspected members of the sect, who were mostly Nigeriens and Chadians and that many of them were being kept in cells at the different police formations in Kano.
Sources said that after the SSS dislodged Boko Haram’s recruitment agents back to Niger Republic through the Jibia border, its anger grew against the service and the Immigration Service.
The offence of the Immigration Service, according to sources, was its involvement in plans to deport a number of Nigeriens who had been indicted as members of the Boko Haram.
Said one of the sources: “There are attempts by one of the Boko Haram recruitment sources to recruit some innocent almajiris in a town close to the border in Katsina but the operatives of SSS dislodged them. They ran back to Niger through the Jibia border and they also learnt that the Immigration Service helped in that operation. So, they became angry at the SSS and Immigration.”
It was learnt that the Federal Government had placed all security agencies on the alert in the North so as to forestall plans to spread the attacks to other cities in northern Nigeria.
In another development, President Goodluck Jonathan was in Kano on Sunday to commiserate with the victims of Friday's multiple bomb attacks.
During the visit, he met with the Emir of Kano, Alhaji Ado Bayero, who assured him of traditional rulers' cooperation in the effort to root out the radical Islamic sect, Boko Haram, which has claimed responsibility for the blasts that killed over 100 people.
Speaking while receiving the president in his palace, the Emir assured him that he was not alone in the war against Boko Haram sect.
He said: "Mr President, be assured that we are in this together. We all must join hands with you to combat this evil that is threatening the welfare and security of all of us.
“We will continue to pray for you and the country and do all in our power as traditional rulers and religious leaders to complement the measures you are taking to end these unfortunate incidents.”
Jonathan got to the emir's palace after paying sympathy visit to victims of the Friday’s multiple bomb blasts that mostly affected police formations and immigration offices.
According to President Jonathan, all what we need is the cooperation of our people to help give relevant information to the security agencies
“Any attack on any leader or any part of the country is an attack on all of us, because you will never know when it will happen to you. Let all of us decide to collectively fight these terrorists. They cannot win Nigeria.”
President Jonathan told the Emir of Kano that “we have come to pay you and the good people of Kano a condolence visit over the acts of some elements in our society to create chaos to distract us. God willing, they will never succeed.”
He said bombing was relatively new, adding that some years back, nobody would believe that a Nigerian would be a suicide bomber, “but we are faced with this reality and we must find a way to tackle it,” the president said.
“We call on the Almighty Allah to encourage them and provide for them,” the president said while commiserating with the families of the victims.
Speaking in the same vein, the Emir of Kano said: “We are assuring the government that we are solidly behind your government in all the endeavours which you intent to take in order to bring peace and tranquility to Kano people in particular and to all Nigeria in general.”
Dr Bayero disclosed that the size, welfare and equipment of the police in the state were gorssly inadequate.
Following the Kano bomb blasts, Vice-President Namadi Sambo has called off the commencement of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) gubernatorial campaign for the Bayelsa State election scheduled for Yenagoa today.
The PDP announced in Abuja on Sunday that the Sambo-led committee for the 2012 gubernatorial election in Bayelsa State had suspended the grand campaign rally originally planned to take place in the state capital, because of the blasts in Kano.
In a statement issued by the National Publicity Secretary of the party, Professor Rufai Alkali, the party said a new date would be announced later for the event.
Meanwhile, the acting National Chairman of the party, Alhaji Abubakar Kawu Baraje, on behalf of the National Working Committee (NWC) and members of the party nationwide, has commiserated with President Goodluck Jonathan on “this shocking event” in Kano.
The PDP statement said, “our hearts go out, especially to the Governor of Kano State, Dr Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, the government and people of Kano State over this harrowing experience."
Meanwhile, British travellers have been warned not to travel to parts of Nigeria after Friday's terrorist bombing that left scores of people dead in Kano.
The British Foreign office, on Sunday, updated its travel advice for the African country, with a warning that people should not travel to Kano.
Also, the United Nations has condemned the attacks on the nation’s largest northern city.
A statement from the Secretary-General of the world body, Ban Ki-Moon, said: “the Secretary-General is appalled at the frequency and intensity of recent attacks in Nigeria,” and that the incident demonstrated a wanton and “unacceptable disregard for human life.”
Also, a former United States ambassador to Nigeria, Mr John Campbell, has said the counter-terrorism strategy being used by the Federal Government to contain the nefarious activities of the sect could backfire.
In an interview, he said “what the Nigerian government is doing is treating Boko Haram as a security problem. I see it more as a political problem, and rather team focusing so much on police methods, I would try political intiatives that might have the potential for sucking the oxygen out of Boko Haram.”
Campbell suspected the number of hard-core operatives of the sect was small, adding that the nucleus of the sect might have been made smaller in the losses suffered in Kano.
Meanwhile, the national secretary of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), Buba Galadima, has said the sect is only fighting a “class warfare,” rather than the potrayal of its members as terrorists by what he called the government propaganda.
“It is a class war borne out of poverty," Galadima said.
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