More than 27 die as suicide bombers rocks Jos, Biu

Suicide bombers on Thursday attacked Jos, the Plateau State capital
and Biu in Borno State and killed 27 people and injured many people.
In the Biu attack, 15 persons were killed, while 12 people lost their
lives in the twin blasts at Jos.
According to an eyewitness, the suicide bomber detonated the bomb in
front of one of the Filling Stations in Biu, a town that is about 160
kilometres from Maiduguri, the birthplace of Boko Haram insurgency.
He said, "The suicide bomber was few metres away from a petrol filling
station when the bomb on him detonated, killing him and 14 other
persons in the vicinity."
The Biu resident, who spoke to one of our correspondents on the
telephone from Biu, said the suicide bomber rode a tricycle which he
parked near the filling station.
"He parked the tricycle some metres away from the petrol station and
was working in the direction of the filling station. But the bomb
detonated and killed 10 persons and injured many others before he
could get to the station. Thank God that the bomb detonated before he
could get to the fuel station, the casuality figure could have been
higher.
"The corpses have been evacuated to the General Hospital, Biu where
the injured have also be taken to for treatment."
In the Jos attack, no fewer than 12 people were killed and scores of
others wounded as two separate blasts that rocked in the city on
Thursday.
One of our correspondents learnt that the first bomb went off at a
motor park adjacent to the Bauchi Road campus of the University of Jos
at about 4.30 pm, while the second one went off almost simultaneously
in front of the UNIJOS gate.
It was learnt that the second was targeted at the students who were
just trooping out of the school after the day's examinations.
The students resumed on Monday and started their second semester
examination after the school was closed down in November last year
following a protest.
Most of the victims were said to be taking cover to avoid a downpour,
which started at about 3.45 pm, the first in the city of Jos this
year. Another source said that the blast at the Bauchi motor park was
carried out by a female suicide bomber, who entered the park wearing
ahijab.
The Executive President of Stefanos Foundation, Mr. Mark Lipdo,
quoting security source, put the casualty figure at 12, but a student
of the school, who simply identified herself as Grace, said that the
figure could be higher.
According to her, when the bomb exploded, there was confusion on the
campus. There was also traffic jam along the busy Bauch; road as
motorists make hurried U-turn to escape from the melee.
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She said, "Because it was raining, everybody was trying to take shield
and so nobody noticed the bomber."
A source told one of our correspondents that he saw Hilux vehicles
carrying some persons to the Bingham University Teaching Hospital,
Jos.
The blasts created tension in the town as security men blocked most of
the roads in the city to start a cordon and search operation.
Both the spokesmen for the Special Task Force, Capt. Ikedichi Iweha,
and the police, DSP Emmanuel Abuh, confirmed the blast.
They said that security men were still assessing the situation as both
the dead and the injured were being conveyed to hospital.
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