- “That’s the scary part, not knowing,” a Kano resident says
- Authorities lift a curfew imposed in Kano after the attacks
- The number of deaths is expected to rise, a military official says
Lagos, Nigeria (CNN) — A northern Nigerian city targeted by bombs and gunfire remained on edge Sunday after the blasts killed at least 157 people, and left the police headquarters and other government buildings in charred ruins.
Authorities lifted a daytime curfew imposed in Kano, the nation’s second-largest city, after the bombings that hit eight government sites Friday.
But an overnight curfew remained between 7 p.m. to 6 a.m., according to residents
Shell-shocked residents wandered the streets, looking for loved ones. Others hid behind barricaded doors, too scared to leave for fear of more attacks.
“That’s the scary part, not knowing,” said Faruk Mohammed, 27, who lives near one of the bombed police stations. “We don’t know what’s going to happen next, no one thought this would ever happen here. There’s a general sense of despair.”
Curfew in Kano after deadly attacks
Boko Haram’s terrorizing of Nigeria
The attacks paired bomb blasts with shootings on various sites including police stations, the passport office, state security headquarters and the immigration office.
During the attack, assailants entered a police station, freed detainees and bombed it, authorities said.
They later canvassed the area in a car led by motorcycles, spraying targets with gunfire.
“I counted at least 25 explosions …,” Mohammed said. “Then it went deathly quiet. Kano is a bustling city … I’ve lived here for years and it has never been quiet, even at night. But after the bombings stopped, the only noise you could hear were dogs barking.”
The number of deaths is expected to rise because hospitals are not equipped to deal with the influx and severity of the injuries, according to a military official who did not want to be named because he is not authorized to talk to the media.
About 50 people were injured and search-and-rescue operations are ongoing, a Red Cross information officer said.
Islamist group Boko Haram — whose name means “western education is sacrilege” — claimed responsibility for the blast in a phone call to the Daily Trust, according to journalists at the newspaper.
The group has been blamed for months of widespread bloodshed, with churches and police stations among the targets.
In December, President Goodluck Jonathan declared a state of emergency in four northern states after a series of Christmas Day attacks on churches blamed on the group.
The man suspected of masterminding those attacks was briefly captured before escaping police custody while being transferred to another prison.
Depending on the faction, Boko Haram’s ambitions range from the stricter enforcement of Islamic Sharia law to the total destruction of the government.
Its grievances remain local, but it has attacked international institutions — such as the United Nations — on Nigerian soil.
An August 26 attack — during which a Boko Haram suicide bomber drove a Jeep laden with explosives into the U.N. headquarters in Abuja — was one of the deadliest in the world body’s history. Twenty-four people were killed, including 12 U.N. staff.
The group was formed in 2002 by Islamic preacher Mohammad Yusuf as an outgrowth of ethnic tensions in the country in the 1990s.
Nigeria’s population is split between mostly Muslims living in the north and predominantly Christians in the south. Yusuf advocated the institution of Sharia law throughout the northern states and opposed democracy.
The group operated openly out of northeastern Nigeria and staged small-scale attacks against government targets.
In 2009, Nigerian police forces moved to crack down on Boko Haram. Harsh police tactics led to an armed uprising and the arrest of Yusuf, who later died in police custody.
The death spurred the group to begin its attacks on police stations. Ensuing clashes between group members and the police killed hundreds.
The following year, Boko Haram re-emerged as a more radicalized, insurgent style group, staging assassinations and attacks against not only government targets, but also churches and even a beer garden.
“We’re dealing with a movement of inchoate rage,” said John Campbell, a U.S. ambassador to Nigeria who left his post in 2007.
“It’s highly decentralized, but what it has in common is a strongly Islamic character, and hatred for the secular, political economy of Nigeria, particularly the federal and state governments,” he said.
CNN’s Nima Elbagir and Faith Karimi contributed to this report.
