Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan condemns bombings

Nigeria’s president has condemned the Tuesday bombings that killed at least 118 people saying that they were “cruel and evil.”

13:21 21 May 2014

Tuesday bombings that targeted a crowded market and a hospital in the central Nigerian city of Jos have been condemned by Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan. He said that the bombings, which killed at least 118 people, were “cruel and evil.” He also placed north-east Nigeria in a state of emergency to fight an insurgency waged by the Islamist group Boko Haram. 

 

The death toll is expected to rise as more bodies still lie under the rubble of building destroyed by the explosions. 

 

Nigerian government released a statement saying: "President Jonathan assures all Nigerians that [the] government remains fully committed to winning the war against terror and... will not be cowed by the atrocities of enemies of human progress and civilization.” 

 

No one has taken responsibility for the explosions but the bombs bore the hallmarks of other attacks carried out by Islamist sect Boko Haram, the same group that kidnapped more than 300 schoolgirls recently. 

 

One of the bombs is believed to have come from car parked with explosions. The second blast, which came 30 minutes after the first, was at a market and bus terminal. It killed rescue workers who had rushed to the scene.